Officials hunt for Silicon Valley mtn. lion which attacked 6 year-old

An intense search resumes Monday in the mountains by Silicon Valley for a wild cougar that attacked and injured a 6-year-old boy who was hiking on a nature trail with family and friends. The California state wildlife officer leading the investigation vowed Sunday night to continue searching with bloodhounds at daybreak and said if captured, the mountain lion will be killed. While the search ended at dusk Sunday, officers remained in the area of the attack overnight. "On occasion the lion will return to the attack scene,'' said Lt. Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's law enforcement division. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said the child was recovering from what were described as moderate injuries after being attacked on a trail in an open space preserve in the Santa Cruz mountains. The location was about two miles from a winery and near the city of Cupertino, in the heart of the Silicon Valley high-tech industry and home to billionaires. Foy said the lion attacked while the boy was hiking as part of a group of two families. He was at the front of the group, about 10 feet ahead of the others, and they were able to pull the child away from the cougar. "It was an ambush type of attack,'' Foy said. "They said it came out of nowhere.'' The attack was consistent with the behavior of a mountain lion attacking prey such as deer, Foy said...more