CUPERTINO — Santa Clara County deputies found themselves in an unusual standoff Saturday — instead of waiting for a criminal to emerge from a hideout, they were waiting for a mountain lion to come down from a tree.
The Sheriff’s Office evacuated McClellan Ranch Preserve as a precaution after a mountain lion growled at children in the park and then ran up a tree, said Captain Rick Sung. Experts from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife who also responded decided against tranquilizing and relocating the animal. Instead, they waited for the cougar to come down and leave of its own accord — which it did, without incident, after night fell.
Sung said he was “very concerned” about the mountain lion’s presence, based on a report from a park visitor that it had behaved aggressively toward local children. The animal was camped out in the branches of a tree near McClellan Road and Club House Lane, across the street from a residential neighborhood.
“We had a lot of deputies pretty much surrounding the park area just to make sure our residents are safe,” he said.
Sung said there were several hundred children in the park with their families when it was evacuated.
While the Sheriff’s Office occasionally receives calls about mountain lion sightings, Sung said it’s rare to hear of an animal displaying aggression.
“Usually what it is, is people will see it and the mountain lion will just walk away,” he said.
There have been 14 reported mountain lion attacks in California since 1986, including three fatal attacks, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. A 6-year-old boy was attacked near the Picchetti Winery in Cupertino in 2014 and survived.
Despite the danger the mountain lion may have posed on Saturday, Sung said his deputies never intended to hurt the animal. The incident comes a week after zoo workers in Cincinnati sparked national outrage by shooting and killing a gorilla after a 3-year-old boy fell into its enclosure.
“Of course we’re not shooting the mountain lion,” Sung said. “Absolutely not.”
Stuart Yusem, who lives about two miles from the scene of Saturday’s encounter, grabbed his camera and hurried over when he heard there was a mountain lion in his neighborhood. Using a zoom lens, he captured some sharp close-up shots of the enormous cat crouched on a tree branch. Yusem said he’s long known there are lions in the area, and understands the need to be mindful of children and small pets. But he’d never before seen one himself.
“That’s why this was an awesome opportunity,” Yusem said.
Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan wasn’t aware of Saturday’s incident and couldn’t comment on the specifics. While every case is different, he said, killing a mountain lion is always a last resort. The department instituted new guidelines for responding to lion encounters after Fish and Wildlife wardens killed two small cubs in 2012 in Half Moon Bay, prompting a public backlash.
“Unless it’s a threat to public safety,” Hughan said, “our policy is not to do anything. The lion is just being a lion.”
Lynn Cullens, associate director of the Sacramento-based Mountain Lion Foundation, praised the handling of Saturday’s incident in Cupertino.
“I think it speaks really well to everyone that this didn’t get made into something that it clearly wasn’t — which was a large public safety issue,” she said. “And it clearly was not a large public safety issue.”
Contact Marisa Kendall at 408-920-5009 or mkendall@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow her at Twitter.com/marisakendall.
Mountain lion safety tips
When living in or visiting mountain lion habitats:
— Don’t attract mountain lions to your home by feeding deer.
— Don’t leave small children or pets outside unattended.
— Install motion-sensitive lighting around your house.
— Don’t hike, bike or jog alone, and avoid doing these activities at dusk, dawn or night.
— If you encounter a mountain lion, don’t run. Face the animal, make noise, wave your arms, and throw rocks or other objects. Pick up small children. If attacked, fight back.
— Source: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife
