A Fallbrook man who shot and killed a mountain lion in June could face charges for killing a second mountain lion earlier this year, according to a published report.
Ranch supervisor Mario Arteaga said he killed the female mountain lion in self-defense, our media partners at the North County Times report.
The lion, shot in an avocado grove, was fitted with a radio collar as part of a regional study on mountain lions.
The paper reports that Arteaga is under investigation by California Fish and Game after investigators found the skeleton of another mountain lion on ranch property missing its jaws and teeth.
Arteaga’s version of events is reportedly in question including how he shot the first mountain lion and if the lion was in fact, threatening his safety as well.
“It was in a tree and there were dogs” below, Arteaga told the North County Times in Spanish. “I read in the news in Orange County that a lion had killed a man. I didn’t want it to attack me.”
Learn more about the investigation in the full article in the North County Times.
