At first the California wildlife agency resorted to lethal removal, but a law change appropriately requires that non-lethal methods be used first. So, a young female mountain lion that was preying on a sensitive herd was the first to be relocated a hundred miles away. At first her movements revealed by tracking data were erratic as she became accustomed to her new surroundings. Her latest location data shows she is still alive and settling in to her new territory. A five year old male cougar who had killed at least nine sheep since 2018, displayed more stubbornness when he was relocated a hundred miles away. He blazed a direct path back to his old hunting grounds. Not be defeated by the lion, officials captured him again and sent him 200 miles away in the opposite direction. Lions have an acute sense of direction aided by excellent vision and smell, which they use to hunt and locate mates. The increased distance and direction change appeared not to faze him as he began walking in the correct direction within 24 hours of release. But, probably to his long-term benefit, he veered off course and has so far not returned home.
Officials did not think cougars they captured for relocation would not try to go back to where they were taken. The idea was to protect the sheep, at least for a while. Biologists think that lack of other big predators exterminated by man in the Sierras such as bear and wolves, allowed the cat to occupy a larger niche in the ecosystem--bad news for vulnerable sheep. So if man wants bighorn sheep to remain in the altered landscape, he will have to artificially strike a new balance between predator and prey, a task Nature does effortlessly. How long must the earth mourn, the green of the whole countryside wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it beasts and birds disappear, because they say, "God does not see our ways." Jeremiah 12:4