SAN DIEGO _ DNA testing has confirmed that a mountain lion that attacked a 4-year-old boy in Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve on Monday is the same cat that game wardens quickly found and killed, authorities announced Friday.
Samples taken from the cat and those collected from the boy were compared and found to be identical, the State Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement issued Friday.
"This DNA analysis conclusively proves the mountain lion is the exact one that attacked the victim," the state agency said.
The child was with a group of about 11 people in the Carson's Crossing area of the 4,000-acre park about 2:30 p.m. when the animal attacked.
His father threw rocks and yelled at the cat to scare it away. As paramedics tended to the boy, wildlife officers arrived and found lion tracks.
Soon, in the same area, a mountain lion approached, officials said. It seemed to have little fear of humans, which is abnormal and potentially dangerous behavior.
Using a shotgun, one of the game wardens killed the 80-pound female mountain lion to ensure public safety.
DNA samples _ including scrapings from under its claws _ were sent to the department's Wildlife Forensics Laboratory to compare with samples collected from the boy.
After the attack, the boy was taken to Rady Children's Hospital with non-life-threatening head injuries. A hospital spokesman said the child was released the following day.
