POCATELLO — The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has finally released the fourth mountain lion kitten that was captured from the Johnny Creek area at the end of January.
Using signals from a radio collar affixed to the mother mountain lion, Fish and Game was able to determine her location by the end of last week and released the kitten in proximity to her.
During the week of Jan. 16, wildlife officials became aware of a mountain lion family that had made themselves at home right among the residents of Johnny Creek. The mother mountain lion, and what was originally thought to be just three kittens, were continually hunting deer, storing kills and finding shelter among the homes and structures in the area.
Fish and Game said these factors made removal of the mountain lions necessary.
Officials transported and released the female and her other three kittens to an undisclosed remote habitat in Southeast Idaho on the afternoon of Jan. 20. A fourth kitten belonging to the family was not captured until Jan. 26.
According to Fish and Game, radio telemetry information was spotty at first, as the mountain lion family moved around quite a bit. Fish and Game waited until she and her kittens finally became more settled before releasing the fourth kitten.
This was the first capture and release of an entire mountain lion family by Idaho Fish and Game in the southeast region.
