Mountain lion too sick to save

Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2004 | 11 a.m.

A apparently starving mountain lion cub that turned up in the yard of a Henderson home was put to sleep by animal control authorities after it was determined it had probably been abandoned by its mother because it was sick.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife said today it gave "careful consideration" before euthanizing the baby mountain lion captured in Henderson Tuesday.

"The decision was made based on biological and humane reasons and after careful consideration by the staff," said Geoff Schneider, spokesman for the Wildlife Department's Southern Nevada office. "Our deputy director made the call.

"The lion was 4 to 5 months old and terribly emaciated," Schneider said. "It was about 25 pounds and should have weighed about double that for its age. It was probably abandoned by its mother because it was sick. That happens often because nature always produces in excess.

"We believe we made the right decision," Schneider said.

The baby cougar was found Tuesday morning by Marjie Smith, who said she opened the front door of her Henderson home and found the cat trying to make a meal out of her doormat.

"We looked at each other and we both scared each other," Smith said. "I called police and animal control, but the lion was gone. When my son J.J. came home from Foothill High School at 1 p.m., he saw the lion hiding in a big bush in the yard and called police."

Schneider said the animal was captured by Henderson Animal Control officers and turned over to the state agency.

"There are no animal rehabilitation facilities in this area, and this lion had become habitated to humans so it could never be returned to the wild," Schneider said. "If it had survived, it would have had to spend the rest of its life in confinement."

Schneider said his agency often returns healthy animals to the wild. But that too, he said, can be a problem because animals that are let go in areas where others of its species have established a territory often results in the newly introduced animals being killed by the established ones.

The skull and hide of the wild cat that was captured Tuesday will be given to the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to be used for educational purposes, including demonstrations in schools, Schneider said.

Marjie Smith said she was saddened that the lion was destroyed.

"It was sad, but if the animal was sick, I guess that was the best thing."

Smith, who has lived in Henderson for 25 years, said, "I've never seen a mountain lion in town before. "I'm just happy it didn't get over the fence and attack my two Labradors."

A mountain lion attack in California last week killed one person and wounded another. Such attacks are rare, officials said, because the animals tend to keep their distance from humans. The last reported mountain lion attack of a human in Southern Nevada was at the Nevada Test Site in 1991, Schneider said.

Schneider said mountain lions are plentiful in Nevada --so much so that the hunting season for them is year-round.

Hunters must first obtain a general hunting license for $24. Nevada residents are charged an additional $26 for a lion tag and out-of-state residents are charged $101 for such a tag, Schneider said.

A new tag can be purchased after each kill, Schneider said, noting that the hunting of mountain lions is more popular in Lincoln County than it is locally.