An 80-pound mountain lion was fatally shot by Fish and Game officials near the Angeles National Forest in Sunland, according to KTLA5.
Sunland resident Marleen Hitt saw the large cougar near her garage Friday afternoon and called 911, KTLA reported.
The 2 to 3-year-old animal hid near bushes in a yard when police shot at the cougar to make it run away.
"I heard five shots spread out, then I knew that they had found it," Hitt said.
The warden arrived and shot the mountain lion, according to KTLA.
"The game warden felt that the situation warranted the most extreme measure for the safety of the lion, the safety of the people around it," Andrew Hughan of California Fish and Game said.
Officials say that this case was different from the
"Shooting an animal with a dart is not like the movies. you hit the animal, the animal becomes very aggitated, very angry, very quickly. And it doesn't just fall down in one minute and go to sleep," Hughan said.
Altadena also sees occasional visits from mountain lions, bears, and other wildlife. A similiar issue over whether to kill wildlife getting too close to a residential neighborhood also arose in Altadena last summer when it was revealed that the county had killed seven coyotes in Altadena.
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