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# Why cougar attacked is unclear
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/why-cougar-attacked-is-unclear/
- Published: 2004-06-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:39:48.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import

know her. We wish for a speedy and full recovery, and look forward to her return.”

Parker was transferred to the UCLA Medical Center on Sunday. She was still there Monday, but officials were under strict instructions from her family not to release any information about her condition, said Enrique Rivero, a spokesman for the hospital.

Lab results returned Monday indicated the mountain lion weighed nearly 60 pounds and had virtually nothing in its stomach or intestines when it attacked Parker.

“This lion just wasn’t eating,” said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game, who added just one bone from a small rodent was found in the lion. “A lion that age should be up around 100 pounds... The animal didn’t have any injuries, such as broken bones or mouth abscesses, which might explain the animal’s emaciated condition.”

Martarano said a combination of reasons may have prompted the lion to attack — it may have been a subordinate male not able to find food from traditional sources; a 2002 wildfire in the area may have changed the lion’s eating patterns, or the lion may have viewed Parker as an easy target because — at about 5’2” — she was relatively short. When they do attack, mountain lions historically have targeted women and children (see related story).

Still, even those reasons don’t add up, he added. “You just never know what causes a lion to attack a human,” Martarano said. “They normally don’t look at humans as their prey of choice... It’s a very rare occurrence, and oftentimes we don’t know what causes those attacks. We may never know. Even if the lion was hungry, that doesn’t necessarily mean (it) would attack.”

A rabies test on the lion came back negative. Further blood tests were being conducted at the Department of Fish and Game’s Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Rancho Cordova to screen for tularemia, plague, leptospirosis and brucellosis. Although the presence of any of those diseases may explain the animal’s poor physical condition, it will not explain why the animal exhibited such bizarre behavior, senior wildlife biologist Doug Updike said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 29, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)