Adult Mountain Lion That Preyed on Captive Goats Killed in Oak Glen

An adult mountain lion that began preying on captive goats and other animals in Oak Glen in November was shot and killed the night of Dec. 25 by the owners of a petting zoo and Riley's at Los Rios Rancho.

Devon Riley, 46, said Friday his 19-year-old son, Seth, used a shotgun to kill the predator after dark on Dec. 25. The Rileys had obtained permits from California Fish and Game to shoot the lion.

"We started noticing something was wrong when we'd go out to feed," Devon Riley said. "It was shortly after Thanksgiving. We had at one point 13 to 15 goats out here . . . and all of a sudden one would be gone. There was no sign of what happened, they'd just disappear.

"The next night, another one or two would be gone," he said. "We knew it was suspicious and then we finally called Fish and Game and they came out. It had been happening for some time when we took out our first depredation permit on Dec. 4.

"The Fish and Game guy said 'Yeah, you definitely have a mountain lion and it definitely will come back.'"

The Fish and Game officer found mountain lion tracks, each about the size of an adult male's fist, Riley said.

"We found a couple goat carcasses stashed in a way that he knew it was a mountain lion," Riley said. "We also had a couple animals that had been pinched right around the neck. A couple were still alive, and it later got those too."

The first permit expired and Fish and Game re-issued the permit several days later, Riley said.

"So we had two permits, but we were not able to find it," Riley said. "It didn't come back again."

The mountain lion returned late afternoon or evening on Christmas Day.

"My son had gone up to feed, came back down to our home, went back up to the corral and discovered the mountain lion had killed another goat," Riley said. "We left the carcass, and didn't disturb it, and then came back out late that night, at 11:30 and found the cat feeding on it."

Seth used a shotgun to kill the lion - double-ought buckshot, Riley said. The lion was engrossed in feeding and did not react to illumination from a flashlight in the darkness.

"That's the first time we've ever had to kill a mountain lion," Riley said. "We know they've been around before but we haven't seen them on this side of the mountain, cause this kind of damage."

Fish & Game collected the mountain lion carcass and intended to do an autopsy, Riley said.

"When they discover a ready-made food source and they get comfortable coming back to it, it's inviting trouble," Riley said.

Some of the goats were killed by the petting zoo, but others were killed closer to the Rileys' home, where the family has four children, ages 7 to 19.

Property owners can legally kill mountain lions or bears that attack livestock or pets, according to the Department of Fish and Game. They must first obtain permits to do so, or catch the predator in the act.

Since 1972, more than 2,300 mountain lions have been killed statewide under authority of depredation permits, according to Fish and Game.

Nine of them were killed in Riverside County, and one in San Bernardino County, according to Fish and Game statistics that run through 2009.

Oak Glen is a community of working apple orchards and farms snug up against Yucaipa Ridge, which borders the San Gorgonio Wilderness north of the San Gorgonio Pass.