Mountain lion euthanized after killing 5 sheep

Wildlife officials say they have euthanized a mountain lion that was responsible for killing five sheep near Cortez in southwestern Colorado.

Joe Lewandowski, a spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, tells The Cortez Journal (http://bit.ly/TLxgcY ) a dead sheep was used as bait, and the mountain lion was trapped and euthanized Thursday. He added that the lion was an older 100-pound female and likely would have gone after other livestock or pets if allowed to remain in the wild.

Jay Spinney says he was surprised when he saw the mountain lion devouring one of his sheep Wednesday and noticed there were another four sheep that had already been killed by the predator.