Authorities kill mountain lion posing ‘immediate threat’ in southern Arizona
May 19, 2019, 4:33 AM | Updated: 7:03 pm
(Pixabay Photo)
(Pixabay Photo)
PHOENIX – Authorities killed a mountain lion Friday because it posed an “immediate threat” to a southern Arizona community.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department said the animal had been spotted repeatedly in residential areas of the town of Patagonia.
“The mountain lion posed an immediate threat to the community,” Regional Supervisor Raul Vega of Game and Fish in Tucson said in a press release.
“It was persisting in a residential area apparently unafraid of people, was emaciated and in apparently poor health.”
The male mountain lion, which was estimated to be 2 years old, “was so unafraid of humans that an animal control officer got within 3 feet of it” on Sunday, the release said.
The predator was recently seen dragging a dead javelina under a mobile home for a meal and was also suspected of killing a goat in the area.
It was under a mobile home when authorities arrived Friday to “lethally remove” it.
Patagonia is about 60 miles south of Tucson in Santa Cruz County.
