Mountain lion euthanized after feeding on livestock in Pleasant Grove neighborhood

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — A mountain lion was killed by animal control services after eating several chickens within the same neighborhood over the last few days.

According to a statement from DWR, they received a call on Monday that the a mountain lion was eating chicken in a coop in Pleasant Grove and set up a live trap for the large cat.

The trap was unsuccessful and more sightings of the mountain lion were reported over the next few days.

On Thursday, after another call, DWR set up another live trap to bait the lion and was able to capture the animal in the middle of the night.

The homeowners called DWR around 6 a.m. and and they responded and picked up this lion this morning.

Scott Root, a Conservation Outreach Manager for DWR said the lion had visited four different chicken coops in a half mile radius and the lion has been in the area for an extended amount of time.

People from the area on social media had also mentioned cats were going missing.

Pleasant Grove City made a post on Facebook Thursday about a Public Safety Alert with the lion in the area.

Because of its lengthy presence in a residential area along with its behavior being rewarded with food, DWR made the decision to euthanize the mountain lion.

According to Root, the euthanasia of the mountain lion was in line with DWR policy, and Root said public safety is their first priority and they don’t like to euthanize whenever possible.