By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TRACKING THE TIGER-These are paw prints of a tiger that was killed on the Serenata Trail in Moorpark, adjacent to the southbound 23 Freeway between New L.A. Avenue and Tierra Rejada Road. Next to the prints are smaller ones-perhaps of a bobcat. The prints were found in Barton Miller Park in Moorpark, next to the Serenata Trail where the animal was destroyed.

The weeklong hunt for an elusive big cat came to an abrupt end Wednesday morning when authorities shot a large Bengal tiger after it was spotted near New Los Angeles Avenue and the 23 Freeway in Moorpark at about 7:30 a.m.

"The animal may have been out there for up to three weeks," said Troy Swauger, Department of Fish and Game spokesperson.

Kenneth Tucker, a Moorpark resident, first spotted the animal when it walked right by his backyard fence at about 6:15 a.m. He called authorities, who found the cat wandering near Miller Parkway by the Target Store.

The California Department of Fish and Game, USDA Wildlife, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol all responded to the call.

"Unfortunately, they had to kill it because it was near a freeway," said Lorna Bernard, another spokesperson for the Department of Fish and Game. Tranquilizers take about ten minutes to work, and the frightened, wounded tiger could have endangered neighbors or gone onto the freeway during that time, she said. Four shots were fired. The dead animal was airlifted out of the rugged area.

"They took the body of the tiger to a state facility to do a necropsy to look for things that may identify it—to trace where the animal came from," Bernard said.

While many people are angry that the animal had to be killed, Swauger said that their anger should be directed toward the animal owner who let the tiger out and never bothered to tell anybody. "If they had contacted authorities, the animal could have been saved," he said.

Trackers hunted the big cat that had been roaming the open spaces between Simi Valley, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks for more than a week.

"We had five federal trackers out covering an area in and around where the tracks were spotted," said Bernard.

The tracks were first spotted last Tues., Feb. 15 on the Day Creek Ranch property east of Highway 23. On Friday more tracks were found west of the highway, Bernard said.

By Monday the animal appeared to have wandered toward the Santa Rosa Valley area between Thousand Oaks and Camarillo.

The Department of Fish and Game didn’t use dogs to track the exotic cat, estimated to weigh about 400 to 600 pounds, because the cat could have harmed the canines and nearby residents.

The dogs used by the department are specially trained to pursue mountain lions, and when they spot a scent, they’re unleashed and start running full board to pursue the animal until they catch up with it. The local lions usually climb a tree rather than confronting the dogs.

This large cat, however, was likely to confront the tracking dogs, worth thousands of dollars, so the department didn’t want to risk losing them. "They are working dogs that have jobs to do," Bernard said.

Keeping the dogs leashed while they are tracking an animal is not an option, she added.

The wet weather was also a problem, said Bernard. Trackers had trouble finding fresh tracks because the rain was acting as a big eraser, she said.

Meanwhile, no one has stepped forward to claim the tiger.

A Tierra Rejada Valley resident who had been keeping 22 exotic animals, some similar to the one on the run, said the animal wasn’t his, and authorities said that all of the resident’s animals were accounted for. Authorities had told the owner to remove the animals from the property at about the time the tracks were first discovered.