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Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of 4 small primates. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Puma gunned down in Berkeley

Berkeley may be an open-minded city, but it's a closed society when it comes to large tawny cats. 

Thanks to Jake K. for the latest puma news from the Bay Area.

4 comments:

tai haku said...

Sadly the prevailing attitude among many US/European environmentalists seems to be "big predators are great and they should totally be protected and restored wherever possible.....so long as they're not near me."

Also seems odd they used a shotgun?

Bpaul said...

Ugh. I mean, I see the angle and concerns, but still. Ugh.

JK said...

Only in Berkeley (a city I hold dear in my heart). A Memorial has been set-up for the Puma: http://www.berkeleyside.com/2010/09/03/in-memorium-the-mountain-lion/

Sebastian Kennerknecht said...

This horrible shooting happened a block from my house (I woke up the next day wondering why there were news vans parked outside). It is a pretty busy area, but it also backs up right onto the hills. There are deer in this are frequently, so shouldn't we expect mountain lions as well. It seemed like a case where the Police department had no training on how to deal with this situation (they could have for example shot bean bags at it like in the South Bay, or watched it go back into the hills like they did in Santa Cruz). They need to have the proper training so not more cats get shot. One positive note, the memorial is still maintained, people are still reading the letters there, and people are still talking about it.