Mountains lions captured, Horsetooth reopens

Good news for local runners like me: Horsetooth Mountain Open Space is open again.

Over the weekend, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers captured two juvenile mountain lions at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space. Wildlife officers will be moving the mountain lions to a wildlife rehabilitation facility. Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to release the mountain lions back into the wild at a future date. A full report will be given on Thursday, Feb. 14.

"We have removed additional lions that we believe are siblings of the lion involved in last Monday's attack," said Mark Leslie, northeast region manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. "The Front Range of Colorado plays home to many of Colorado's wildlife and we have an expanding urban interface and increased recreation pressure. The interaction between wildlife and people is going to increase and we need to find a way to balance the needs of people and the needs of wildlife."

With the assessment completed, Larimer County officials have decided to reopen Horsetooth Mountain Open Space to the public today.

I heard a rumor about this yesterday, but didn't want to blog it without hearing more.