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Jul 14, 2008 6:38 pm US/Pacific
'No Evidence' Of Palo Alto Mountain Lion Attack
PALO ALTO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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A mountain lion sits poised in a tree.
AP
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Animal control officers at Palo Alto's Foothills Park following the alleged mountain lion attack.
CBS
State wildlife officials told CBS 5 that investigators found "no evidence" that a mountain lion attacked a hiker in a Palo Alto park over the weekend.
Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game, said Monday that an extensive investigation had found nothing consistent with a mountain lion attack.
State and local officials began their investigation after a 50-year-old Portola Valley man said a mountain lion jumped on him as he hiked through Foothills Park late Saturday afternoon.
Martarano said inspectors looked for evidence such as tracks or hairs, but could not find anything to substantiate the attack.
"We're not saying that a lion was not there,'' said Martarano. "We just haven't found any evidence of it.''
After the attack was reported, officials closed Foothills Park and the adjacent Pearson-Arastradero Preserve and brought in a federal trapper to capture the cougar.
The effort by the animal tracker to hunt for a mountain lion has now been ended, according to Martarano.
The victim who reported being attacked by the mountain lion told investigators he was walking on a trail in the northwest corner of the park when the lion, estimated to be around 5 feet long, jumped on him from behind and caused him to fall about 15 feet down a hill where he collided with a tree.
The man had injuries consistent with a fall but there was no physical evidence to confirm a lion attack, said Palo Alto police Agent Dan Ryan.
Ryan indicated that while there was a second possible mountain lion sighting late Saturday afternoon in the Enid Pearson Arastradero Reserve, he noted that the reporting party was about 50 yards away and was not certain it was cougar.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
