Tiger gunned down in suburbs

From correspondents in Los Angeles
February 24, 2005
From: Agence France-Presse

WILDLIFE authorities have shot and killed an elusive tiger that had stalked homes and alarmed the residents of a Los Angeles suburb for more than a week.

The tiger, which weighed between 181 and 272kg, was tracked and hunted down near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, after a local resident spotted the beast.
"It was a large exotic animal and it was shot ... after a resident called and said they had seen it in their yard," Ventura County Sheriff's Department Captain Bob LeMay said today.

The beast had last sparked a major alert when its large paw prints were spotted on February 8 around suburban neighbourhoods of the second largest US city.

The animal however had not been seen until yesterday (AEDT).

Officials of the California Department of Fish and Game said they were trying to solve the mystery of where the big cat had come from and were questioning residents with exotic-pet permits.