California predators under fire
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1995:
LOS ANGELES––A bill to reinstate
recreational puma hunting in California, due for a
mid-April vote in the state assembly, got a series of
media boosts when a single puma killed both a
German shepherd and an 80-pound Akita within six
days near La Crescenta in mid-March; mountain
biker Scott Fike, 27, fought off another puma on
March 20 after being attacked on a trail outside
Altadena; and a third puma killed 37 sheep the night
of March 31, in an attack without known parallel.
Most pumas kill what they’re going to eat, eat it,
and then, like other cats, go to sleep.
All three pumas were tracked and killed by
state wardens. Only nine humans have even been
attacked by pumas within California, but three of
the attacks came in the past two years, and the two
before the attack on Fike were fatal. Recreational
puma hunting was banned by referendum in 1990.
The Los Angeles City Council meanwhile
ended a moratorium on coyote trapping within city
limits, voting 12-0 on March 15 to authorize the
Department of Animal Regulation to hire five ani-
mal control officers to help homeowners deal with
alleged coyote problems. The homeowners may
have traps set for coyotes for a $200 fee. “Our hope
is that if we hire these people, we won’t have to set
traps and will educate people,” said councillor
Jackie Goldberg.
