The recent spate of mountain lion sightings throughout Lake County has caused me to dust off some research that I had started some time ago, exploring the relative abundance of lions in the northern part of the state. The information comes from archived California Department of Fish and Game records as well as the office of USDA Wildlife Services for California.
Historically, the California Fish and Game Commission paid a bounty for lions. Between 1907 and 1919 Lake County ranked eighth statewide with 126 bounties paid. Humboldt was 1st, (594) and Mendocino was fifth (259). The top 10 counties whose hunters received bounties were: Humboldt, Shasta, Trinity, Siskiyou, Mendocino, Tehama, Kern, Lake, Monterey and Santa Barbara. During this period the state paid out 3,625 lion bounties for a total of $65,550. It was reported that “as soon as a lion is reported there is a small army of hunters scouring the country, all anxious to boast of having killed a lion.”
All this changed in 1972 when a moratorium went into effect prohibiting the sport hunting of mountain lions in the state. Subsequently, in the 1990s the voters of California passed two separate initiatives giving the mountain lions special status and further extending and expanding their protection. Throughout the period between 1972 and 2008 lion sightings have steadily increased throughout Lake County. This increase in sightings would suggest that lion numbers may have correspondingly increased. Available data for both depredation permits and the number of lions killed under permit would support this apparent increase in the population. Here is data for lions killed under special depredation permits: 1972-1979, 2; 1980-89, 9; 1990-99, 25; and 2000-08, 23 for a total of 49. During this same period 119 lion depredation permits were issued by the Department of Fish and Game.
This trend is consistent with numbers for the rest of the state. Today, Mendocino ranks first in both the number of permits issued and lions killed. Lake County is within the ranks of the top five in the state. This upward trend is similar throughout the state.
This data would suggest that lion numbers have increased steadily since the initial moratorium on hunting went into effect. Furthermore, these numbers validate that Lake County has provided suitable lion habitat throughout the 20th century. If the current numbers are to be believed, one could surmise that lions have simply re-occupied existing habitat in the recent decades and now occur in areas previously occupied by lions.
This data strongly suggests that we all live and work in lion country. The prudent thing to do is for all of us to be diligent when hiking about and to watch young children and pets closely when a lion is suspected of being in the area.
Gregory A. Giusti, U.C. Forest Advisor
Lakeport
