Two mountain lions struck and killed by vehicles Wednesday evening and Thursday morning in SLO County
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – Two mountain lions were struck and killed by vehicles in San Luis Obispo County Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
According to the California Highway Patrol-San Luis Obispo area (CHP), the first mountain lion was hit and killed by a vehicle around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 4000 block of Los Osos Valley Road.
The driver of the vehicle was not injured, but the mountain lion died at the scene shared the CHP.
Environmental Scientist Brandon Swanson with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is the unit biologist for San Luis Obispo County and identified the mountain lion killed Wednesday night as MOLI05M, a collared male who had been struck by a vehicle north of Paso Robles in the Spring of last year.
After recovering from the collision, MOLI05M was released near San Miguel and made his way back down to the area where he was struck and killed Wednesday night detailed Swanson.
Usually, at least tissue samples are taken when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is called to the scene of a mountain lion death for genetic preservation, but MOLI05M was sent to a veterinary clinic for a full necropsy shared Swanson.
When asked what the size of the mountain lion population in San Luis Obispo County and the impact of the loss of two mountain lions, Swanson explained that collaring and collecting data from mountain lions is how scientists determine the size of the local population, but that MOLI05M's demise is just as important of a data point for researchers.
Another mountain lion was hit and killed around 7 a.m. Thursday morning off of Highway 1, just south of the California Men's Colony and the driver in that collision was also uninjured detailed the CHP.
There is currently no additional information about that mountain lion from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
CHP explained to Your News Channel that their agency responded to both incidents as they were vehicle collisions in their jurisdiction.
