Lion Killed Near School Deputies Thought All The Big Cats Had Been Accounted For

Another escaped lion was spotted near Lava Hot Springs Thursday night, setting off another alert for local residents. It was the 19th big cat killed since some of them escaped from a ramshackle compound Sept. 20.

The local elementary school was closed again Friday, just as it was the day after it was discovered that lions had escaped from the Ligertown animal compound just outside town. Several blocks of residential areas were cordoned off.

Officers killed 18 wild animals earlier and another 27 lions and tiger-lion “liger” hybrids were taken from the compound and shipped to a California game preserve. Deputies thought they had captured or killed all the big cats several days ago.

But Thursday night, Woney Peters spotted a lion on the hillside behind his house.

He shot it and called deputies, who found the animal dead at the bottom of a hill. The sheriff’s office immediately asked television stations to warn Lava Hot Springs to stay inside Thursday night.

“We felt fairly confident last week we had all of them, then a lion walked into town,” Undersheriff Lorin Nielsen said, his voice cracking with exhaustion. “I can’t be certain this is the last.”

Another search for animals, with the aid of a helicopter with heat-sensing equipment, was launched Friday. Officers rounded up SWAT teams, search and rescue and residents with cat-tracking dogs to comb nearby mountains.

Nielsen said owners Robert Fieber and Dotti Martin said they had 45 big cats in the compound, but 46 already have been killed or captured. Bannock County also took 43 wolf hybrids to a Bonneville County facility were wild animals were reared in the past.

“I don’t know what else to do,” Nielsen said. “We have no way of knowing for sure how many other cats there may be. I urged Dotti to tell me if there were any anywhere that they might know of. She insisted there were not, but we can’t quit patrolling yet. It just goes on.”

Lions usually travel in groups and can go up to 10 days without feeding, said Nielson. “Well, guess what? It’s day 10.”

Nielsen was furious at Martin and Fieber as he manned the command center at Lava Elementary School Friday morning.

“This is ridiculous. A male lion has been shot 500 yards from this town’s elementary school. “We have no idea how many more cats may be out there and how many more lives may be in danger,” he said.

Bannock County charged Fieber and Martin with 109 misdemeanor criminal counts and a magistrate court hearing was scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m.

Deputy Prosecutor Deb Lantermo said the criminal charges included 84 counts of cruelty to animals, 16 counts of creating a public nuisance, three zoning violations, two counts of possession of the prescription drug of drug paraphernalia. There also were two counts of possession of protected wildlife related to owl remains found in the compound.

The charges carry jail sentences up to six months and fines up to $5,000.

The county also is seeking to condemn the property because of health and fire concerns but that will take at least 60 days. Until then, the property will be closed. Fieber and Martin lived in a trailer at the compound but have been barred since Sept. 20.

Officials said the owners will have five days to remove personal belongings.