A Boise police officer spotted a mountain lion this morning near the intersection of 31st Street and Pleasanton Street. That’s not far from a local kayaking shop and Whittier Elementary School.
Police say the animal took off after it saw the officer. It happened around 9:30. It was the fourth cougar sighting in the area this week and the first by law enforcement.
A representative of Idaho Fish and Game says a kill order for the animal has not been issued. But Evin Oneale told KBSX the longer the lion sticks around town, the more likely it is that it will have to be destroyed.
“We’re approaching the point where the decision will be made to destroy the animal,” Oneale says.
He says necropsies on the last three mountain lions killed in Boise showed they’d been eating pets.
“That’s a pattern we see over and over,” he says.
And when that happens, Oneale says, the animal isn’t likely to leave and has to be killed. It’s not ideal, but he says Fish and Game will choose public safety over the cougar’s welfare.
Oneale adds mountain lions visit Boise regularly. He says what’s unusual this week is that this specific lion continues to put itself in places where it can be seen by humans.