UC Berkeley’s Police Department (UCPD) responded to a possible sighting of a mountain lion last Wednesday near Buildings 74 and 83. However, the Lab was unable to validate its presence and the animal may have been a coyote. Even though the latest sighting has not been confirmed, employees should still use caution. Do not feed deer, as this could potentially draw mountain lions closer to humans. Avoid walking alone, particularly at dawn or dusk. If you see a mountain lion, call 911 (from cell phone) or x7911 (from a Lab phone). If you encounter a lion, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger. If attacked, fight back. Go here for more safety tips.
Tags: Environment Health and Safety, Safety
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I supervise the ALS Accelerator operators who work shifts 24 hours per day. They often have to walk to their distant cars in the dark by themselves. It is not feasible to call for a security escort each time.
Why does the lab not have a plan for eliminating this real threat to people. Apparently this female cougar has (by now) almost grown cubs, so there are actually three cougars who could attack lab workers or visitors. Small children are often among those visiting LBL.
Do we really want to wait until there is an actual attack before taking action to relocate or eliminate this danger? Until recently I lived in BC, Canada where there have been a number of fatalities related to cougars. Those occurred in wide open wilderness, not the relatively small enclosed area of LBL.
I’ve sighted mountain lions twice in my backyard in El Cerrito in the past couple of weeks so you should know that this isn’t just an LBNL problem. Both sightings were in mid-afternoon. Normally we call 7911 for emergencies on site so why are we being told to call 911?
most likely staff will be outside when they sight a mountain lion, using a cell phone, with which you call 911. if you are using a lab land-line, then it’s x7911. i’ve added that distinction to the article.
How about all those turkeys ? Aren’t they attracting cougars ?
I dearly love the East Bay hills and the good connection we have with beautiful, wild nature here. I live here in large part for the proximity to natural beauty, especially including animals, of all kinds. Terror of mountain lions is an irrational fear – the sort of emotion that makes people make terrible decisions. Keep in mind this fear is being unnaturally stoked and provoked by the labs constant warnings, right or wrong. I would be deeply pained if any mountain lions, which are extremely, extremely rare in CA, were hurt.
Instead of advocating trapping or killing the lions, it would be much more sensible to remove their attractants – the deer (common as dirt – because there aren’t enough mountain lions) and possibly the turkeys. A healthy mountain lion population in the east bay parks – no, not on the LBL campus – would be a great thing for wildlife management in the area.
With all the mountain lion sightings inside the lab, when was the last time Security walk the perimeter to check on the fences for gaps or problems?
Do we have a lab policy regarding feeding wildlife? If not, doesn’t it seem like a good idea to have one? While it is common sense to some people, there are those at my location constantly feeding the animals and now even leaving shelters for them. While the animals are beautiful, I don’t think feeding them is appropriate, let’s appreciate, and not interfere with them, even if it is well meaning.
I respect everyone’s perspective but I think the “threat” from cougars is being blown way out of proportion. Every person (each has a small chance of being dangerous) and vehicle on site presents a much larger problem to the average LBL employee than these animals. There have been about 23 fatal attacks in all of North American since 1890 (120 years total):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America
How does 23 compare to other threats we face? Well, there are about 20 deaths from domestic dog attacks EVERY YEAR in the United States:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_attack
Those who would call the authorities upon seeing a cougar would be well advised to first report every dog in the Berkeley area.
The Lab prides itself on being a good neighbor and existing sustainably in our environment. When you consider that administrators are promoting the killing of these great animals based on such an infinitesimal problem, it seems like its all tongue-in-cheek. Individual animals and plants have value even if their species is not endangered.
i will check with EH&S to see if there’s is a policy.