The California Department of Fish and Game said the mountain lion that attacked a man in Nevada County over the weekend has not been found after two days of searching.
However, the agency said search crews identified lion tracks near the attack site that were left Monday night.
They have redoubled their effort and will work through the July 4 holiday and beyond. Success of the search effort depends entirely upon locating a fresh scent.
“So far the teams have had an extremely difficult time locating fresh scent,” said DFG Capt. Brian Naslund. “Any unnecessary disturbance, or human presence in the area, jeopardizes the quality of the scent and therefore a successful outcome.”
The victim, a Marin County man, continues to recover from his injuries.
He sustained severe bites and scratches to his scalp and in particular, his left arm and armpit. He also has significant scratches on his back.
DFG wildlife forensics scientists extracted DNA from saliva from the armpit area of his shirt where the lion’s canine teeth went through. The DNA analysis proved the attack was from a female mountain lion.
The victim has maintained his request for anonymity, at least for the coming days.
DFG will continue the search using specially trained dogs and motion sensor cameras.
Mountain lion attacks in California are rare. The weekend attack is just the 15th confirmed mountain lion to attack since 1890.
A summary of previous mountain lion attacks in California can be found at
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/lion/attacks.html .
For more information about how people and lions can coexist, please see http://www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/lion.html .