Earlier this month a Mountain Lion was spotted near the trail to Chilnualna Falls. Local rangers ask that visitors be cautious when traversing trails and paths within the park.
According to the National park Service website:
Scientists, in 2003, validated the increase of mountain lion
sightings in Yosemite National Park through a park-affiliated study that
detailed no aggressive behavior by these animals toward visitors. To
gather data, the researchers attached radio-collared transmitters to
some of the animals on park land. The 18 known individuals in the study
area, which went beyond the park’s boundaries, yielded an estimate of
one mountain lion per 25 square miles. (Yosemite covers approximately
1,169 square miles.) Suspicions existed then and now that density is
likely to be higher. Mountain lions, according to the study,
occasionally pass through developed areas but seldom linger. Some
animals migrate in vast ranges seasonally between higher and lower
elevations.
Often, attacks by mountain lions are attributed to human infringement
through development on the animals’ territory, but, in Yosemite, this
is not a factor. Findings of the 2003 Yosemite study offered an
unexplained periodic use, sometimes more intense than others, of
Yosemite Valley by the animals. The park prohibits feeding of all
animals, including raccoons, coyotes and mule deer, in part because
doing so attracts their predators to developed areas.
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| Eric Scott; Wawona District Ranger |
If you see a mountain lion, take these additional precautions:
1. Do not run.
2. Shout in a low voice and wave your arms or hold open your coat to look large and threatening.
3. Maintain eye contact and do not crouch down.
4.Throw sticks or rocks.
5. If an attack occurs, fight back.
Contact the rangers office with any sighting information at (209) 375-9521. A member of our Front Desk Team will be happy to put in the call for you.
