Lt. Patrick Foy, spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Game, confirmed Tuesday the mountain lion that was seen in Turlock on Sunday evening has not been killed, nor has it been captured by officers.
“Nobody has seen the mountain lion since 11 p.m. two nights ago and we are hoping it is gone,” said Foy.
Foy said Fish and Wildlife are fully aware of the rumors the mountain lion had been killed or captured, which he called “frustrating.”
“There is evidence that someone has maliciously put out rumors to mess with the public,” said Foy.
In the past 24 hours Foy says there was seven reports of mountain lion sightings in Turlock, however upon investigation authorities found that six of the reports were actually dogs and one was a possum.
Additionally, a release from the Turlock Police Department said it is believed that the mountain lion has moved on, as no further sightings have been reported within the City of Turlock.
Turlock police spokesperson Lt. Ron Reid, also confirmed that the mountain lion had not been shot or captured as of Tuesday morning.
“We are all working closely together on this,” said Foy. “If there is any information we are sharing it.”
Yesterday evening Fish and Wildlife sent two patrols to look for the mountain lion to no avail. At this point there is only a Fish and Wildlife biologist on standby who lives 20 minutes away.
Rumors of the mountain lion being killed or captured have spread all over local social media and even a local radio station reported the lion had been killed.
Reports seem to confuse a July 2012 report by TurlockCityNews.com in which the animal was shot and killed by Stanislaus County Sheriff deputies in the 5000 block of E. Linwood Avenue with the current mountain lion sightings.
There were seven sightings…
This is just hear say but I heard someone reported a sighting of the mountain lion chasing a domesticated cat this Wednesday morning in a neighborhood next to Medeiros Elementary School