California Department of Fish and Game officials are looking for a mountain lion spotted Saturday by a hiker in Los Altos Hills near Rhus Ridge and Windmill Pasture preserve, according to resident Charles Knowles, founder of the Wildlife Conservation Network.
Midpensinsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) officials closed the trail Sunday after another hiker observed another small mountain lion in the trailhead’s parking lot, a press release from Knowles indicates. An emergency notification the town of Los Altos Hills sent to residents noted that the cats were not deemed dangerous.
Knowles said the announcement mentioned that Fish and Game officials intended to trap and relocate the cat. But, according to Knowles, who spoke with MROSD rangers, “when Fish & Game say they’re going to relocate, they dispatch it. They kill it.”
The Department of Fish & Game did not immediately return a call for comment.
“Here now we’re talking about trapping and potentially killing an animal in the wild and I don’t think there’s anything that warrants it,” said Knowles, who has worked with mountain lions as part of his Wildlife Conservation Network. “They do not pose a public safety concern and… there is no evidence that the cats are ill.”
