Warden kills mountain lion in Sunland neighborhood
A Department of Fish and Game warden shot and killed an 80-pound mountain lion after a resident spotted the big cat hiding in the bushes near her home.
It happened in the foothills below Angeles National Forest, where resident Marlene Hitt was closing her garage door Friday afternoon when she spotted the mountain lion.
“I heard a bang and looked down and saw a mountain lion run out as fast as it could,” Hitt told KTLA-TV. She called 911 and when police arrived, the lion was hiding in the bushes, under a tree.
“I heard five shots and I knew they had found it,” Hitt said.
Officers fired the shots to scare the animal and confine it to the area until Fish and Game arrived. But when wardens showed up, one of them fired the killing shot in the lion’s head.
“It was afraid, I’m sure, but I don’t think it suffered at all,” Hitt said.
Officials from the California Department of Fish and Game said the warden felt shooting the animal was necessary to keep the neighborhood safe.
-- KTLA-TV