The deaths of three llamas that were attacked by a rare pack of juvenile mountain lions have state wildlife officials warning residents in western Colorado to take precautions.
Aside from damage to fences or flattened gardens, deer often become aggressive, particularly during the rut. And where prey roam, predators are bound to follow.
Police are warning residents to keep a close eye on pets after a mountain lion snatched a pet poodle from the backyard of a Burbank hillside home.
After observing the animal for about 30 minutes, a game warden used a bean bag gun to try to haze the lion out of the residential area and back into nearby open space. But the big cat did not move when struck.
Mountain lions, also known as pumas, panthers, catamounts and cougars, were nearly wiped out in the U.S. in the early 1900s as hunting and a shortage of prey drastically reduced their numbers. But a century later, they are starting to recolonize in the Midwest.
Police in the Omaha suburb of La Vista say a report of a mountain lion in a residential area appears to be credible, and they are investigating.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department is beginning to develop a new plan for managing mountain lions in the state. The current plan is about 20 years old, and officials hope to have a new plan ready by the end of this year.
Wildlife officials in South Dakota report that 26 mountain lions have been killed so far during the hunting season in the Black Hills Fire Protection District.
A House panel declined to advance a bill that would have made it illegal in many instances to kill a mountain lion in Iowa.
Arizona wildlife officials say the number of mountain lion deaths in southern Arizona has made its largest decline in a single year.