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Mountain Lion Shot in Downtown Santa Monica

Santa Monica Patch covers the latest on the mountain lion spotted earlier Tuesday.

A mountain lion that was spotted by a janitor in downtown Santa Monica has been shot and killed by authorities,

Authorities cornered the 75-pound mountain lion in a courtyard near Second Street and tranquilized it. However, efforts to keep it contained in the courtyard, including spraying fire department hoses at the glass door of the courtyard and shooting pepper balls at the lion were unsuccessful.

"Regrettably, the officers had to euthanize the animal," .

The mountain lion's body is being taken to the California Wildlife Center in Calabasas, where it will be examined, according to Executive Director Cindy Reyes.

kate May 22, 2012 at 05:23 pm
So very sad - these are magnificent animals that roamed free in this area before we arrived. The people at the California Wildlife Center are wonderful.
There was another lion seen in Griffith Park. Can we NOT find a way to subdue them without shooting them? Elephants are subdued in Africa! More training needed before we lose any more of this beautiful cats.
Jill Kobritz May 22, 2012 at 06:38 pm
Apparently it takes 15 minutes for the tranquilizer to work. One needs a lot of room for the animal to run until it hits. Of course the animal should be saved but they could not risk human life in a crowded urban situation. There is a childcare center, a church, yoga classes and lots of people in the area at that time. They tried to keep the cat at bay with fire hoses and paintball but it didn't work. The cat kept moving toward the street. Losing the cat is great loss but would you risk your 4 year old?
Sean May 23, 2012 at 03:44 pm
i went to the farmers market in santa monica today, i did not see any mountain lions...
however, the market was full of cougars!
Miriam Barron May 23, 2012 at 04:20 pm
I'm with you a 100%, Jill.
Miriam
lahope May 23, 2012 at 08:45 pm
pigs.
catman May 23, 2012 at 11:36 pm
They didn't have to shoot it. I can make friends with any cat, even wild ones like this. If I had known about this I would have gone over there and had that cat eating out of the palm of my hand in 5 minutes or less.

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