Park Stalked by Cougar to Reopen

SAN DIEGO —  Convinced that the mountain lion shot by rangers over the weekend is the same menacing cat that had forced them to close Cuyamaca Rancho State Park for two weeks, park officials announced Monday that all restrictions on visitors will be lifted today.

Paw prints and other evidence persuaded officials that the cougar that was tracked down and killed by park rangers after it bit a 10-year-old girl is the same animal that twice harassed other visitors this summer, said Greg Picard, the park superintendent.

The girl suffered only a minor scratch on her buttocks. A necropsy is being done on the 41-pound animal--which measured 5 feet, 3 inches from nose to tip of tail--to see whether it was diseased.