Feral Cows Disrupting Preserved Habitat In Chino Hills State Park

CHINO HILLS (CBSLA.com) — A herd of feral cattle roaming the 18,000-acre Chino Hills State Park is becoming a growing problem.

The feral cows roaming the park are the offspring of cows that have wandered into the park through broken fences from neighboring cattle ranches, state park Superintendent Kelly Elliott said.

They are regularly sighted by visitors like Adriana Simon, who runs often at the park. Her last sighting was three weeks ago.

"Like a group of four of them. They were pretty much, like, roaming around," Simon said.

There are not a lot of negative interactions between the cows and park visitors, but Elliot says the bovines can disrupt the preserved habitat.

"The cows like to be in creeks and creekside vegetation is something we try to protect," she said.

Its unclear how many cows inhabit the park. Rangers have been relying on volunteer wranglers from time to time to come in and round them up.

In the meantime, visitors are asked to call the park if they ever encounter a cow.