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A wildlife technician caught on video the moment she encountered an adult mountain lion and two juveniles
In the footage, she backed away slowly while shouting and sounding an air horn — all recommended practices in a situation like this, per Idaho Fish and Game
Mountain lion encounters are generally rare because their gut reaction is usually to flee from humans, the department said
A wildlife technician walked into an alarming encounter with a mountain lion.
In the southwest region of the state in the Owyhees in Idaho, a wildlife technician was on the way to conduct an investigation into the cause of death of a GPS-collared mule deer buck. When she got close to the carcass, though, she realized an adult mountain lion and two juveniles were around the dead buck.
The technician had recorded the encounter, and the Idaho Fish and Game staff shared the footage on YouTube as an example of how to act in this kind of situation.
At the video’s start, the wildlife technician was fairly close to the mountain lions. Then, she can be heard shouting, “Go on! Get!” repeatedly in an attempt to deter the animals, as well as blowing an airhorn. She kept the camera pointed toward the direction of the mountain lions, and then appeared to back away slowly and calmly.
According to Idaho Fish and Game, individuals who find themselves in a situation similar to this should not run, turn their back on the lion, crouch down or try to hide.
Instead, it’s best to remain facing toward the lion and slowly back away, while also leaving the lion an escape route. If possible, individuals should try to appear larger, like waving their arms around, and shout and throw objects to further deter the animal.
“Encounters like this one are exceptionally rare. It represents a potentially risky worst-case scenario where a lion refuses to back down,” Idaho Fish and Game wrote on Oct. 31. “Generally, encounters like this involve a mother with young or a single lion protecting a cached kill.”
It’s not common for wildlife technicians to encounter mountain lions, as they are “typically shy and secretive creatures” and their general instinct is to run away from humans. Mountain lions are even more likely to stay away when a human is making a lot of noise, which the wildlife technicians do every time they are sent to investigate a possible lion kill.
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Studies in the Owyhees have indicated that the leading cause of death for mule deer and California bighorn sheep is mountain lion predation.
“Because of that, Fish and Game staff expect they might walk into a mountain lion kill whenever they receive a mortality signal from a GPS collar in these units,” Idaho Fish and Game’s site reads.
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