Why did the Department kill a collared lion in June 2007?
A29 The lion met the Department definition of “offending lion” (two bighorn killed within six months) having clearly focused its predatory behavior on bighorn sheep by taking five bighorn sheep during the 96 days the lion was collared. Four of those sheep were killed within a 50-day period. Global Positioning System (GPS) locations obtained via satellite put the lion precisely at the site of nine ungulate kills: five bighorn, two mule deer, and two other as yet unidentified large ungulates (either bighorn or mule deer). A tenth kill appears most likely to have been a coyote. The lion was physically observed at three of the kill sites. When taken, the lion was found in a small clump of trees with the carcasses of a mule deer and two bighorn sheep ewes cached within the same clump of trees. All kills appeared to have occurred within no more than four days, with the freshest probably killed within 24 hours. It was noted that two of the three kills appeared to have been fed on only once an
