Full Notification

Suspicious Incident Call Turns into Encounter with Mountain Lion


On Sunday July 22, 2012 at about 9 AM, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a suspicious incident at a residence in the 5000 block of E. Linwood Ave just east of Turlock. Upon arrival deputies noticed at 80-100 pound Mountain Lion that was up in a tree.

Deputies contacted California Fish & Game who advised deputies that they have been investigating reports of a mountain lion in that area over the past month. The Warden’s stated they would be en-route to assist deputies in trying to remove the animal from the property. The Warden's also advised Sheriff's deputies that if the mountain lion came down from the tree, the animal could pose an immediate threat to public due to the fact it was out of its normal habitat. Before the Fish and Game Warden's arrived on scene, the Mountain Lion started coming down from the tree and the deputies were force shoot and kill the animal as it posed a immediate threat to an area populated by humans and domestic animals.

Fish and Game Warden’s arrived on scene and took custody of the animal. They will conduct their own investigation on how and why the animal was so far away from its normal habitat. This is a rare occurrence as the location of the incident is not a known mountain lion habitat. The area of the incident is mainly farmland, which is just east of the City of Turlock.

For information regarding this press release please contact:
Deputy Royjindar Singh
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department
209-988-8311
rsingh@stanislaussheriff.com