The last two fatal mountain lion attacks in Morgan Hill date back to 1909. More recently, in Morgan Hill, there was a mountain lion encounter at Thousand Trails RV resort on Dec. 8, 2025. When a couple was walking a trail that borders the park’s volleyball court and playground, a large mountain lion with three cubs approached them, hissing, about 4pm.
The woman’s screams attracted several other people to witness this. No one was hurt.
I’ve spoken to other managers at RV parks in the area who also had recent sightings. There were many encounters in Morgan Hill in 2004. There were three mountain lions spotted at a school. And later, one was shot by a police officer, as it was trying to enter a home.
This sparks concern and the question whether mountain lions have lost their fear of humans.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, 1920 saw the lowest mountain lion population in California history with 600 individuals (and a human population of slightly less than 3.5 million).
This was during the bounty system when the mountain lion was considered a mesopredator subordinate to the grizzly bear.
With the extinction of the grizzly bear and the ban on hunting in California, there is nothing to keep the state’s 5,000 mountain lions in check. Their fear of humans and grizzlies have dissolved. They now have nothing to fear.
The false information from the mountain lion foundation has caused the public to have biased views and underestimating the risks of mountain lions. They are not an endangered species, but rather classified as least concern by the national union for conservation of nature.
After every attack, there’s an activist emphasizing that the mountain lion must be starving. This is due to the fact a mountain lion will gorge up to 30 pounds of meat, and then fast for three days showing an empty stomach and bowels.
Besides this, what parent would find relief in knowing that the mountain lion that just attacked their child was hungry.
As the mountain lion foundation keeps lobbying for protection laws and non-lethal measures for the public and law enforcement, we will continue to see a rise in mountain lion encounters. A habitat will only support a certain size population; and in urban areas, this habitat has filled up.
Encroachment began 150 years ago. And the human population isn’t going to leave—neither are the buildings and homes that have spent decades there
It seems that what these animals need are conservation strategies focused on habitat restoration, rather than solely protectionist measures that are bad for us and them.
Phil Salgado
Independent mountain lion researcher
