AR-News: (US CA) Mountain Lion in Weekend Attack Underfed

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

_http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/local/9035809.htm_ 
(http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/local/9035809.htm)   


Kansas.com
Posted on Tue, Jun. 29, 2004
 





GREG RISLING

Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - A mountain lion that attacked a hiker on a clifftop trail in 
central  California over the weekend did not have rabies but was well below its 
average  weight, wildlife officials said Monday. 
The 2-year-old male lion weighed 58 pounds, while most cougars its age weigh  
80 to 100 pounds, said Lorna Bernard, spokeswoman for the California 
Department  of Fish and Game. The emaciated lion injured a Santa Monica woman Saturday 
 before it was fought off by her boyfriend and later killed by wildlife  
officers. 
A necropsy Monday determined that the animal didn't have rabies and that its  
stomach was empty except for the bone of a rodent, Bernard said. Other  
examinations to determine whether the animal was sick could take another week,  but 
state officials said they may never learn why the lion attacked. 
"Even if they explain the mystery why it was thin, it won't explain the  
mystery of why the lion wanted to attack a human," Bernard said. 
The animal should have been able to feast on deer and vegetation that had  
returned to the area as it recovers from a 2002 wildfire, she said. Mountain  
lions will also eat coyotes, plants and berries if there aren't enough deer in  
the wild. 
Shannon Parker, 27, lost her right eye in Saturday's attack and had deep  
wounds to her right thigh, authorities said. She has undergone hours of  
reconstructive surgery while recuperating at UCLA Medical Center. 
Her family asked the hospital not to release additional information. 
It was the 15th mountain lion attack on a human in California since 1890. 
In January, a mountain lion mauled two bicyclists in separate attacks at an  
Orange County wilderness park. 

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