A young male mountain lion was captured Monday morning, Feb. 27, by California Department of Fish and Game after Zach Bovinette, an Altadena resident, saw the animal outside his window gazing at two fake deer in the yard across the street, reported the LA Times.
The 70-pound mountain lion was tranquilized in the neighborhood, just south of the Angeles National Forest. Wardens put an ear tag on the animal to help them identify it in case it returns to another residential area. They also monitored the cat until the tranquilizer wore off, the newspaper reported.
What we wanted to happen is what did happen, Lt. Daniel Sforza, of the Department of Fish and Game, told the newspaper. We were able to tranquilize the animal safely, and were going to release it in the forest.
Sforza said he didn't know what caused the mountain lion to travel from the forest to the neighborhood, but said the cat may have been looking for food or water or searching out new territory.
Posted: Feb. 28, 2006, 3 p.m. EST