Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : MISCELLANY / NEWSMAKERS AND MILESTONES
At least six mountain lions are roaming the park where 5-year-old Laura M. Small and 6-year-old Justin Mellon were attacked in separate incidents this past year.
That preliminary finding of a survey begun earlier this month may mean that the mountain lion population statewide is larger than previously thought.
But state wildlife experts said the numbers are not alarming.
“It would just be premature to say that this is an artificially high or low concentration,†said Terry Mansfield, a state Fish and Game Department biologist who headed the survey team. “It is too early to say that lions are super, super abundant down there (in south Orange County). But there is certainly a viable lion population in and around the area.â€
The 7,500-acre Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park east of San Juan Capistrano has been closed to the public since Justin Mellon of Huntington Beach was mauled by a mountain lion on Oct. 19. Justin received more than 100 stitches on his head, chest and back. The cat that attacked him is still at large.
Three mountain lions were trapped in the park after the March 23 attack on Laura Small of El Toro, which left her partially paralyzed and without sight in one eye.
The park is scheduled to reopen Jan. 2, but with new rules. Children will not be allowed beyond a picnic area near the park entrance, and adults venturing onto nature trails and into camp sites must travel in groups of two or more.
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