Rangers Respond to a child injured by a Mountain Lion
On February 16th 2020 Rangers received a report that a 6 year old child had been injured by a mountain lion while hiking with her family at Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve.
Attacks by Mountain Lions are a rare but concerning occurrence.
Rangers responded to the call and treated the child's minor injuries and received information on what happened.
Rangers quickly coordinated and worked to close all access points to the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve to public access in order to protect public safety.
Rangers also coordinated with the department of Fish and Wildlife who over the next few days were able to track and identify the mountain lion who had injured the child.
Rangers continually monitor wildlife interactions with people within Open Space Preserves. The goal is to create habitat where wildlife like mountain lions can remain wild as well as create open spaces where the public can recreate safely as well. Occasionally maintaining these spaces requires intervention like closing trails to protect both wildlife and public safety.
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If you support having skilled and trained Rangers ready to respond to public safety emergencies such as this that occur within and surrounding Open Space Lands please contact your elected board members and ask them to return to the negotiations table with the Rangers to offer a benefits package that is consistent with their public safety role.