Three mountain lions killed after eating mystery human remains

Arizona Game and Fish Department killed three mountain lions after at least one of them ate human remains near the Pima Canyon hiking trail near Tucson. The mountain lions did not kill the person and their identity and cause-of-death is still under investigation. Many people were displeased that the mountain lions were killed. From KOLD:

...Arizona Game and Fish consulted with national experts on mountain lions before making the final decision.

"I can tell you that the lions tore the clothes off the victim," (Arizona Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark) Hart said. "That is an indication that they had figured out that a human being clothed is food."

Game and fish successfully relocated a mountain lion in 2004 but in this case, the situation was different.

The lions had eaten human flesh, which is unusual, so relocating them may not make difference.

Lions can easily travel a hundred miles or more.

"If we found the best place we could put them, there's always a risk that type of behavior would remain," Hart said. And if they wandered back into a community "that would be catastrophic."

image: "North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar) in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana" by National Park Service (Public Domain)