STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Tests have confirmed how a mountain lion got sick to the point where it had to be euthanized after it was found unresponsive on a popular Steamboat trail.
The lion was found June 5 on the Morning Gloria trail, where it was biting at vegetation and sticks nearby but did not try to get up and was unresponsive to human presence or stimulation.
A necropsy report conducted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Lab indicated the 1- to 2-year-old female mountain lion was suffering from a neurologic disease.
The stomach was full of large-diameter sticks and twigs as well as grass and other plant material. Hemorrhages were found in the lion’s brain, which could have been caused by a bacterial infection. There was also inflammation of the heart muscle, according to the report.
After the lion was euthanized, a wildlife officer noticed it had a two-centimeter wound on its right hip, but there was no evidence of a gunshot. It is believed the wound on the hip got infected, and the infection spread to other parts of the body.
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