LEHI, Utah, Aug. 31, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Lehi’s visiting mountain lion after four days of eluding traps and trackers, even drones, has been euthanized.
“The mountain lion was located last night and unfortunately had to be put down,” the Lehi City Police Department announced online Friday morning. The deed was done by the state Division of Wildlife Resources, police said, which has been working with the department since the animal was first spotted in Lehi neighborhoods Monday.
“Thank you for your patience as we’ve worked to try and resolve the problem. These animals are extremely fast, agile, and stealthy, making them very difficult to track, trap, or corner, especially in a suburban environment.
“Tracking mountain lions in the terrain of a forest/mountain environment is vastly different than one with houses, vehicles, sheds, fences of all sizes, heights, and materials.
“All of which make human and/or dog passage more difficult and time consuming versus a mountain lion that can easily and quickly maneuver around and jump fences.”
The post drew far more reactions from commenters on Facebook than any of the department’s previous updates, with 254 icon responses, 157 comments and 61 shares, featuring arguments over why the big cat had to be killed rather than tranquilized and relocated.
LCPD’s first alert Monday said “Be advised: a mountain lion was observed in the area of Woods Drive.
“Division of Wildlife Resources has been notified and is in the area attempting to locate it. Our officers will be extra patrolling the area as well. Please use caution when outside.
“It’s probably best not to have children walking to and from school until the situation is resolved. Consider bringing pets inside as well.”
The department’s Wednesday post read: “Update on the mountain lion that has been seen in multiple locations in town. It has not been caught but traps are still out. The latest sighting was in the area of 300 North and 300 West. Officers responded to the area but were unable to locate it.”
“No new information to report on the mountain lion,” LCPD posted Thursday before the animal was taken down late that night. “Still not caught, but there are periodic sightings.
“Dogs won’t work in this type of environment and the mountain lions are pretty adept at avoiding any type of trap that is set up. We continue to collaborate with DWR on the issue.”
After the Friday morning announcement of the animal’s demise, the department by 4 p.m. had posted a link to a media account that day of the 11 p.m. Thursday killing that quoted the DWR saying relocation was not an option: the mountain lion had become habituated to Lehi, making it a public safety concern.
