http://www.boston.com/dailynews/117/nation/Report_cites_loss_of_mountain_:.shtml

Report cites loss of mountain lion habitat

By Associated Press, 4/27/2001 06:19

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) The mountain lion has lost half its habitat across the West, according to a National Wildlife Federation study.

Development either has pushed the mountain lion out or forced it to hang around and feed off smaller animals like raccoons and skunks, the study said.

The problem is particularly acute along the western edges of Colorado's larger cities such as Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs, the Washington, D.C.-based group said.

The state Wildlife Department in Colorado Springs averages nearly two calls per week regarding cases in which the lions have either been sighted or their tracks detected, Mike Seraphin, a department spokesman, said.

Cases of conflict between people and lions are rare, but as recently as 1998 a lion attacked a hiker in Roxborough State Park. The year before, a lion killed a 12-year-old boy in Rocky Mountain National Park.

With their habitat shrinking, more encounters can be expected, the federation study said.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

Answers

there has been a Mountain Lion on the loose in Springfield Ohio, just south or Akron since last fall, it has been seen but never caught. It dines on domestic pets.

-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001