Calls began coming in at 6am. A mountain lion was sighted outside of a mall in Temecula, California. Local law enforcement surrounded the animal outside of a Macy’s loading bay and kept people a safe distance away.

The responding officers “almost immediately located what appeared to be a 150-pound mountain lion near a mall parking structure,” said police Sargent Steve Fredericks.

Wardens from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife arrived shortly. The department spokesman Kyle Orr stressed that the cougar was not acting aggressively but was in an unsafe place and had to be moved away from the populated area.

The wardens tranquilized the cat and put it in the back of a pick-up truck to be transported away from people. While on the way to a wildlife habitat, the mountain lion stopped breathing.

“The animal had no access to open to space. The decision to move it was the right one, but it’s unfortunate that it died,” said Orr. It is not rare for animals to die after being tranquilized. A necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Mountain lions live in vast habitats. A male’s territory can span over 200 square miles. There could have been any number of reasons this courgar was moving through the Temecula area.

“A lot of times they’re seeking habitat for themselves and the suitable habitat has been taken. So they range into what would be, for a mountain lion, unsuitable,” Orr said.

The population of North American cougars has dropped dramatically over the last several decades because of human development.