HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 239-05caution and inform park visitors and neighbors about mountain lions, and to suggest precautions
to protect humans and their pets. Elements of this education campaign have included:
C9.. Posting advisory notices at trailheads and park entrances in Foothills Park and the
Enid Pearson Arastradero Preserve warning of the presence of mountain lions. These
notices include the specific dates and times lion were sighted in the area. Over-sized
posters have. been created to make the advisories readily visible to equestrians and
cyclists.
C9.. Posting advisory notices at trailheads and park entrances warning dog owners to take
special precautions with their pets.
C9.. Posting a special advisory notice on the Foothills Park and Enid Pearson Arastradero
Preserve web pages about the presence of mountain lions. This advisory has a link to
a newly created web page for information on safety around mountain lions and
wildlife. This link can be viewed at:
http://www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/ross/naturepreserve/lions.html.
C9.. Informational letters mailed to every resident with 2000 feet of the borders of the
Enid Pearson Arastradero Preserve and Foothills Park.
C9.. Informational presentations to the Parks and Recreation Commission.
C9.. Frank's Weekly Memo article June 11 and July 2,2004.
C9.. In-depth article on mountain lions in Palo Alto published in the Palo Alto Weekly,
October 13,2004.
C9.. Radio interview on KZSU with City Naturalist Deborah Bartens, October 2004.
C9.. In-depth article on coexisting with mountain lions in the San Jose Mercury News,
October 24,2004.
C9.. Press release on a mountain lion in south Palo Alto January 13,2005 (published in the
Palo Alto Weekly, Jan 14,2005); follow-up article February 11,2005.
C9.. Open Space staff, in conjunction with the Palo Alto Police Department, plan to
arrange neighborhood watch presentations to the Palo Alto residents in the foothills
area.
As sightings of the mountain lion became more frequent in the past months, staff consulted with
local and regional wildlife biologists from the California State Department of Fish and Game to
discuss strategies for discouraging the mountain lion from lingering in the presence of hikers or
their pets. Staff was told that because mountain lions are so elusive, and considering the range of
contiguous open space in the foothills, it would be extremely difficult to track a lion in order to
frighten or haze the animal. By State policy, the Fish and Game Department will not track and
relocate mountain lions, regardless of the situation.
The Fish and Game biologists and wardens outlined numerous responses for the City to consider,
including:
C9.. Continue monitoring the situation. Collect additional information on the locations
and behavior of the mountain lion.
C9.. Close certain areas or trails within Foothills Park or the Enid Pearson Arastradero
Preserve to dogs. Dogs are considered competitors for prey to lions and as such
mountain lions may become bolder in the presence of dogs.
C9.. Close the entire Preserve to dogs (temporarily or permanently).
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~ Close certain areas and trails where mountain lions have been sighted to the public
and dogs.
~ Close the entire Preserve to the public and dogs for three or four weeks to see if the
lion moves away from the area. When the preserve. is re-opened to the public, rotate
the trails that are open at anyone time.
~ Under the regulations of a 'predation permit' issued by the California Department of
Fish and Game, kill the mountain lion if the level of threat to public health is deemed
critical by the City of Palo Alto. The California Department of Fish and Game,
however, leaves it to the City to interpret the definition of "critical threat" and the
threshold for this action.
Selection of any of these alternatives is based more on reaction to perceived public safety risks
and liability rather than scientific research that would support one approach over another.
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed the precautions and measures that are currently being
taken in the foothills to caution park visitors and neighbors. The City' Attorney's Office has
concluded that the City is currently taking prudent and appropriate action by the posting of
visible written warning notices, closing individual trails in response to the presence of deer
carcasses that mountain lions would feed upon, and continuing to monitor the number and type
of sightings.
Staff is continuing to add credible mountain lion reports to the City's wildlife database and is
electronically mapping all credible sightings in the foothills (Attachment A). Staff is working
cooperatively with nine public safety agencies in the mid-peninsula area to share information on
and sightings and activity of mOUlltain lions in the area.
Open Space staffis also working with biologists at the Haas Center at Stanford University on a
collaborative mountain lion monitoring project in order to gain better knowledge of the range of
mountain lions and the establishment of territory in urban areas. . ..
Staff will continue to provide periodic informational reports on the activity of mountain lions in
the foothills and creek. If the behavior of the mountain lion becomes more aggressive or if a
person or dog is attacked or injured by a mountain lion, staff will again consult with biologists
from the Department of Fish and Game to determine the appropriate course of action. If
temporary closure of Foothills Park or the Enid Pearson Arastradero Preserve to dogs were
warranted, warning notices saying "No dogs allowed until further notice" would be posted at
park and trail entrances. Compliance with these notices by the public would be voluntary. If
longer-term restrictions on dogs in the parks were warranted, staff would return to Council in the
future with a recommendation to restrict dogs in Foothills Park and the Enid Pearson Arastradero
Preserve by an amendment to the municipal code. Compliance with such a change in the
ordinance would be enforceable by the issuance of administrative citations by park rangers.
RESOURCE IMPACT
The Open Space Division has adjusted staff work plans and priorities to respond to the high
number of mountain lion sightings in the past year. No additional resources for regular or hourly
staff have been allocated to address this situation. On-going Open Space Division operational
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