Shot mountain lion had eaten dog, official says

The original plan had been to tranquilize the cat, which was shown on television peeking through the backyard fence.

MONROVIA, California (CNN) -- The necropsy on a mountain lion shot dead last week in the back yard of a home in suburban Monrovia revealed the big cat had eaten a dog, an official with the California Fish and Game Department said Friday.

The mountain lion was killed May 24 after authorities determined it could not be safely tranquilized. Several people, including children, had gathered to see the lion, and officials said they were concerned it might attack.

The necropsy indicated the female mountain lion had consumed a dog, though it indicated no sign of rabies.

Authorities had speculated the animal made its way into the suburb of greater Los Angeles because it was ill or because a drought had forced it to leave remote areas in search of water.

A Monrovia Police spokesman said the original plan had been to tranquilize the cat, which was shown on television peeking through the backyard fence. But darts are only effective when shot into muscle, and only the lion's head was protruding.

A spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game said the game officer who shot the animal also believed it would be dangerous to try to tranquilize the animal in such an urban area, even if he could have gotten a clean shot.

The area where the mountain lion was shot is a residential block about three-quarters of a mile from the San Gabriel Mountains, where the animals are sometimes seen. Police said they could not remember a mountain lion venturing so deep into a residential area.