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  Home Page » News » DOW Kills Mountain Lion Near School

DOW kills mountain lion near school

Woman called in sighting of cat in area around Park Elementary

by Jason Gonzales
Herald Staff Writer Colorado Department of Wildlife officials killed a mountain lion at Park Elementary School on Monday morning after a woman in the neighborhood called police.

"We don't want mountain lions in the town," DOW spokesman Joe Lewandowski said. "So, we had our officer shoot and kill the mountain lion on site."

He said the Durango Police Department responded to the scene after a woman called and said she had spotted a mountain lion in the area. The police department then called the DOW immediately to take care of the mountain lion that was hiding in the courtyard of the school, he said.

The wildlife official then shot the mountain lion.

"This is standard protocol for a mountain lion," Lewandowski said. "When a mountain lion has set up shop where there is lots of human activity, we have no choice. They are difficult to trap, and then once we trap them, they are difficult to release. It's unfortunate, but this is our only option."

Lewandowski said the mountain lion was a 2-year-old male and weighed about 75 pounds.

"That is the age when the mother kicks them out," he said. "So we find that young male lions seem to get themselves into trouble."

Although the call came from a resident of the neighborhood, most residents of the area did not see the lion.

In July of last year, two mountain lions were killed inside Durango city limits, with one killed at a home on east 11th Street and the other near the Ninth Street bridge. Both were adolescents - about 1 to 2 years of age and weighed about 50 pounds each.

Lewandoski said full-grown mountain lions can weigh 150 pounds or more. He said sightings of mountain lions are a weekly occurrence.

The DOW would like to emphasize that if residents see a mountain lion in city limits to report it.

DOW officials also would like residents to know it is OK to yell at the animal and throw rocks at it to make it feel unwelcome.

To report a sighting of a mountain lion, residents can call the DOW office at 247-0855.

Jason Gonzales is a summer intern at the Herald. Reach him at jgonzales@durangoherald.com.