COUGAR KILLED IN VALENCIA OFFICIALS FEARED ATTACKS ZOO OFFICIALS HOPED TO RELOCATE COUGAR KILLED IN VALENCIA.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

An 80-pound mountain lion that sauntered through a Valencia neighborhood Tuesday morning was shot to death by a state warden moments before zoo officials arrived with hopes of relocating it to the wild.

The female cougar is believed to be the one that was seen roaming Sunday through a condominium complex and near an elementary school just blocks from the community's business district.

California Department of Fish and Game officials brought in dogs to track the big cat after it was seen peering through the window of a home Tuesday morning. Their plan was to shoot the animal with tranquilizer darts, but they were unable to corner it and feared the cougar would attack because the drug can take up to 15 minutes to take effect.

Instead, a warden shot the mountain lion with three blasts from a shotgun.

``We would rather see the cat removed than have it attack neighbors,'' said Lt. Tony Warrington of the Department of Fish and Game. ``Darting is a nice option, but it is not immediate.''

Los Angeles Zoo officials, who arrived just 15 minutes after the animal was killed, said a cougar can be tranquilized within two minutes if it is shot in the proper muscle zones.

``I think it's very sad that Fish and Game decided to kill an animal at the time it was hiding and not being aggressive,'' said John Liao, a veterinarian intern at the zoo. ``The staff at the zoo deals with all kinds of animals. . . . They have a much better understanding of the animals.''

The cougar was first seen resting on Mike Powers' porch on Rotunda Road. His wife, Lori, was up, preparing her three children for school.

``My 7-year-old said it was 10 times bigger than her cat,'' Powers said.

Zoo officials had brought a large wooden carrier for the big cat, along with nets and tarps to transport the animal back to an unpopulated area.

Neighbor Pat Weinstein called county animal control officials to prevent the cougar from being killed.

``I know they have to protect us, but I wish they didn't have to kill the creature. . . . It doesn't seem like fair odds: our bullets against them,'' Weinstein said.

Game warden Mark Jeter said the lion probably came from the Santa Susana Mountains to the west and traversed open space areas to this neighborhood.

Josy Block, who, as the block captain for her Neighborhood Watch program, alerted residents about the mountain lion said the primary concern was for children. Though she acknowledged that it is too bad that the animal had to be killed, she said it had to be caught one way or another.

``There's a lot of kids in the neighborhood. The kids are our No. 1 concern,'' she said.

Carol Holmes, who lives near where the animal was fatally shot, said she heard the cat howling in the early morning as she was gardening.

``I stayed by my door ready to jump back in,'' she said, relieved that the animal was found. ``Better him than me.''

The mountain lion will be taken to a Sacramento lab, where it will be analyzed for any possible diseases, officials said.

Within recent weeks, there have been at least three mountain lion sightings in the Santa Clarita Valley.

From 6,000 to 10,000 cougars are known to inhabit half of California, said Patrick Moore, a Fish and Game spokesman. The last time a mountain lion was destroyed was Jan. 27, when one attacked a dog in Arcadia.

The number of cougars has more than quadrupled since 1963, when the state restricted hunting of the animal.

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PHOTO (color) Fish and Game wardens withdraw a cougar from a back yard after shooting it Tuesday.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News