Friday, October 30, 2009

Mountain lion kills 2 alpacas

Ranch manager declines offer to kill predator


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

Ranch manager Steve Champion is lamenting the loss of two baby alpacas to a mountain lion this week, but is happy that these alpacas went unscathed.

Two baby alpacas were taken from an outdoor pen and killed by a mountain lion Wednesday night at a ranch north of Hailey.

The ranch manager said he has no plans to seek help from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to kill, trap or relocate the cat.

"We are just sick about it," said Steve Champion, manager at John Chapman's Cloverley Ranch two miles north of Hailey. "But it's important that these predators are out there."

Champion discovered the 1-month-old alpacas missing Thursday morning from a small fenced enclosure and contacted their owner, Terry Basolo. The two men followed a blood trail about 100 yards along a fence and found one partially eaten alpaca buried under a pile of leaves.

"It's definitely a cat," said Idaho Department of Fish and Game officer Lee Garwood, who examined the scene and went deeper into the brush in search of the other alpaca.

Garwood said mountain lions attack livestock and other domestic animals along the Big Wood River on a regular basis. He said a Labrador retriever was killed near the Cloverley Ranch two years ago.

Six years ago, a large mountain lion that had taken up residence in a slash pile behind China Gardens subdivision in east Hailey was trapped by Fish and Game officers and released to a wildlife refuge.

"There are always one or two mountain lions living and hunting along the river," Garwood said.

During the Christmas holidays seven years ago, a large mountain lion killed a llama on Broadford Road beside property belonging to Bill Evans. The cat was photographed over the course of several days as it fed on the carcass.

"Eventually it just wandered back into the hills," Evans said.

Garwood told Champion on Thursday that he could call on Fish and Game officials to kill or trap the mountain lion since it had killed livestock on private property. However, Champion declined the offer, saying, "If one gets trapped or killed, another one will just come take its place."

After feeding some oats to the half dozen remaining alpacas, he added, "They are definitely going in the barn tonight."

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




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