After being shocked by a tranquilizer dart and leaping at a policeman in a suburban area, a young mountain lion was shot by officers and subsequently died in a surgical procedure at a California zoo, according to a zoo official, Reuters reports.
A year-old lion was brought to the Oakland Zoo by vets, who readied it for an urgent operation, according to zoo spokeswoman Erin Harrison.
According to a statement from the Hollister Police Department, a resident of Hollister, which is located approximately 100 miles south of San Francisco, phoned police at around 4:42 a.m. after spotting the mountain lion in front of their house.
According to authorities, a lion sought to be tranquilized by California Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel but escaped from a thicket and charged a policeman.
A close-by fence was leaped over by the lion, which then entered a side yard and was once more tranquilized. According to Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Mike Perin, officers discovered a “pass-through bullet wound to its torso.”
“We did not consider the mountain lion to be a public safety threat. It had not acted aggressively,” said Perin, who added that officials had planned to return the animal to its natural habitat.
Dr. Herman felt optimistic before the procedure but was aware of the danger. She said that such injuries often result in the animal’s death.
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