Uncle of Brothers Attacked by Mountain Lion Speaks Out

The uncle of the northern California brothers who ferociously fought a mountain lion in an attack that ended with one brother's death has come forward in a New York Times piece wondering what could have stopped the tragedy. Malcolm Brooks writes of Taylen and Wyatt Brooks' lifetime of outdoor experience in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in El Dorado County, and recounts the horror experienced by Wyatt, then 18, who was attacked first in March of last year—and then watched as the cougar turned to maul his brother, 21. Unable to pull the cat off Taylen, Wyatt ran for help, but his brother was dead by the time deputies arrived. Their uncle also recounts the history of mountain lions in California, where they were hunted for many years, until the late 1960s when concerns arose that their population was nearing extinction.

Soon, they were a protected species with a kill moratorium in place, and within about 15 years, the amount of livestock killed by mountain lions had skyrocketed. In 1986 came the first attacks on humans in almost 80 years. The kill moratorium was briefly lifted, but in 1990, voters passed a ballot measure designating the animals a specially protected mammal, which meant no hunting without a permit. Livestock kills by cougars started climbing again, more human attacks followed, and people began seeing mountain lions more often in daylight—previously a rarity. For a while, more permits were issued, then the policy changed again and increased attacks once again followed. Read Brooks' full piece, which includes his thoughts on how to move forward, at the Times. (In Florida, it was a tough year for a highly endangered subspecies of the mountain lion.)