Mountain Lion Kills & Eats Goat at Kids Camp.

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Mountain Lion Kills, Eats Goat at Kids Camp

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif., July 19, 2007 - A mountain lion leaped into a petting zoo and killed a goat in a nighttime attack at a children's camp in the San Bernardino Mountains, officials said.

"It entered a camp and took a goat among 200 sleeping kids," said Kevin Brennan, a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.

The animal jumped a fenced but roofless animal pen at Camp Oakes, about six miles from town, and dragged the goat away to an outdoor amphitheater where it fed and left the remains before dawn on Sunday.

The YMCA-owned camp, which kept goats and chickens, closed the petting zoo after the attack.

Authorities unsuccessfully tried to hunt and trap the mountain lion, which by the size of its tracks appeared to weigh at least 140 pounds, Brennan said.

Brennan urged campers to put garbage in predator-proof containers and keep small livestock in secure pens.

"You don't want anything that will lure mountain lions or bears into your camp," he said. "That's probably what happened here: The mountain lion was unintentionally lured."