Daylong search yields plenty of spectacle, but no African lion

EASTERN EL PASO COUNTY - Irene LoBaido didn't know if a carnivorous African lion was stalking the plains here Monday.

But she wasn't taking any chances, walking around with a .357 Magnum holstered to her waist.

"You don't want to run across something and not be prepared," said LoBaido, who lives on J.D. Johnson Road, 20 miles east of Colorado Springs.

"My gut tells me that looks like an African lion to me," she said.

She was referring to a blurry, Bigfoot-esque picture taken from a cell phone Monday morning, showing some sort of creature. The photo helped spark a daylong search, involving a helicopter and officials from six agencies, for a reported lion on the loose.

By the end of the day, having made sure no big-cat sanctuaries were missing animals, having found no tracks to indicate a lion and having beaten the bushes without a sign of the animal, officials called off the search, unable to determine if it was a dog, a lion or something else.

"There's an animal around. We have confirmation of that. But if it is a lion, we don't have confirmation of that," said Lt. Lari Sevene, spokeswoman for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.

"We've got some experts saying it's a dog and some experts are saying it's a lion," she said.

The reports caused a little panic - and a lot of spectacle - in this rural, dusty area, a dry and flat region that may have reminded the lion of the African savannah.

If the lion was really there, that is.

The first call came in at 7:35 a.m. Monday, when a resident reported seeing an African lion chasing a dog in the area of Log Road. After a second report, at Log Road and Falcon Highway, the sheriff's office used reverse 911 to call residents and warn them of a possible African lion.

After the alert, 17-year-old Jacob Parks saw an animal in the fields behind his house on Coyote Lane, he said.

"I got the phone call so I was expecting it," Jacob said later, as officials walked the area looking for tracks.

"I was thinking, ‘That thing might come through the door at any time,'" said Jacob, who said he was positive it was a big cat and not a dog.

Deputies spent the rest of the day answering calls, as people who saw an animal moving or lost a cow in recent days made reports. Only three people claimed to have seen a lion, Sevene said.

Some residents stayed inside. Some locked up their animals. Others armed themselves or took matters into their own hands.

"We've got cattle and horses too," said Krista Johnson, explaining why she was riding through the area on horseback, beating the bushes for the lion.

What would she do if she found it? Lasso it.

"It might be a little tricky, especially with the mane," she said.

"I'd be happier if it was a mountain lion, because it's normal," said resident Jennifer Glass, who put her horses and dogs away.

But after seven hours of searching, and a helicopter survey of the area by Colorado Springs police, officials concluded there wasn't enough evidence of a lion. In addition to the Sheriff's Office and Colorado Springs Police Department, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Colorado State Patrol, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo helped in the hunt.

"With a call like this, knowing there is an animal sighting in the area, we had to make sure we had enough resources to ensure the safety of the community," Sevene said.

Nick Sculac, owner of Big Cats of Serenity Springs, a sanctuary about 15 miles away, was saying hours before the Sheriff's Office called off the search that there was no lion.

"We're wasting a lot of money and for nothing," Sculac said.

Because of his knowledge of big cats, he spent the lion's share of his afternoon accompanying deputies to homes where people thought they had seen a lion or its tracks or an animal it killed. He concluded the animal spotted Monday morning was a large dog, probably a Great Pyrenees.

"I think everybody just needs to forget about it and go back to doing what they were doing," Sculac said.

But he didn't fault officials for their response.

"I think they needed to do this, because if they don't and there is a lion out and someone gets killed, that's not good," Sculac said.

Monday night, deputies were expected to be on the lookout with normal patrols. Residents were encouraged to report any sightings, but there was no plan to resume searching.

Michael Seraphin, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said mountain lions have made it this far east before. He said one was removed June 7 from a property on Curtis Road, a mile away.

By Monday afternoon, whatever the animal in the photo was, it was already becoming legend.

Randy Sheley of Black Forest left work early to see the spectacle. Driving past an encampment of reporters, some from as far as Denver, he offered his theory.

"You guys know it's Bigfoot, right?" he said.

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