Mountain Lion F29 Under Active Capture Operation Near Mount Shasta
MOUNT SHASTA, CA — The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Tuesday that F29, the juvenile female mountain lion that has been preying on pets and small livestock in the Weed and Mount Shasta areas, will be captured and relocated rather than lethally removed.
CDFW and Siskiyou County agencies are working together in the vicinity of Pine Grove Drive, west of Interstate 5, using trained tracking dogs to locate the animal and facilitate a safe capture and relocation. The Mount Shasta Police Department asked the public to give the working dogs and personnel room to operate safely.
In a press release dated June 3, Sheriff-Coroner Jeremiah LaRue confirmed that CDFW and the Sheriff’s Office jointly assessed F29’s threat level and determined the animal does not meet the legal criteria for lethal removal, as she does not pose an imminent threat to public health or safety at this time. The agencies say their shared goal is to protect public safety while capturing and relocating the animal to a remote location.
A previous relocation attempt failed when F29 returned to the area.
According to sources familiar with the operation, the planned relocation site is approximately 50 miles from the Mount Shasta area.
For residents along Mott Road and Old Stage Road who have lost pets and small livestock to the lion, the announcement is likely to bring little comfort — and pointed questions.
F29 was already relocated once. Orphaned near Weed, the young lion was rescued, rehabilitated, fitted with a GPS collar, and released into a secluded area of the Trinity Alps in May 2026. She traveled widely after release and returned to her original home range near Mount Shasta — where the depredations began.
Now officials are proposing to do it again, this time roughly 50 miles out.
Whether that distance will be enough is an open question. Mountain lions are capable of traveling extraordinary distances. F29 has already demonstrated she will return to familiar territory. Residents who have watched security camera footage of the animal killing domestic cats on their properties are unlikely to find reassurance in a second relocation attempt to a destination that, by some measures, may not be far enough.
A couple members of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors had called on the Sheriff’s Office to pursue a lethal take permit. That option is now off the table — at least for now. The press release notes that while CDFW issues depredation permits, the Sheriff’s Office retains authority to lethally remove an animal that poses an imminent threat to the public, and that both agencies will reassess F29’s behavior after relocation.
In the meantime, residents in affected areas are urged to keep pets and livestock in secure enclosures.
F29 remains uncaptured as of press time.
Siskiyou.News will continue to follow this story as the relocation effort proceeds and will report on whether F29 remains in her new territory — or finds her way back again.
