A young mountain lion that raided a corral, killing a packing goat south of Bigfork early Monday, has been destroyed by a federal trapper.

"It's a 2-year-old male mountain lion, about 130 pounds, and he's been removed from the population," said Eric Wenum, a wildlife conflict specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The lion jumped a fence at a residence three miles south of Bigfork on Montana 35, startling four llamas and attacking the goat, Wenum said.

"He killed the goat and drug it over to the fence, but it's a woven wire fence so he couldn't drag it over so he tried to drag it through," Wenum said.

The commotion awakened occupants in a nearby house.

"They actually saw the lion," Wenum said.

The lion remained in the area, Wenum said, because a warden who responded to the scene before daybreak also caught a glimpse of it.

Because the incident involved livestock, the warden called in a trapper from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Service's division. Baited leg snares were put out and the lion was captured Monday night.

"It did return last night, presumably to feed on the goat carcass, and it was caught and removed," Wenum said on Tuesday.

About 80 percent of lion conflicts involve young cats that have been "kicked off" by their mothers and are forced to find and stake out their own territories, Wenum said.

"They are dispersing at this time of year and into the summer months," he added.

Young cats are often pushed into marginal habitat at lower elevations, where they are more likely to come into contact with people, pets and livestock.

"That's where house cats and dogs and hobby-type farms are pretty strong attractants for an immature and inexperienced lion," Wenum said.

But mountain lion trouble has been rare the last couple of years in and around the Flathead Valley.

"Our lion numbers have been stable. They aren't increasing as much as they were a few years ago, and our prey base has recovered," Wenum said. "That's certainly a big key …. When there's abundant deer, we typically have fewer problems with lions."

Reporter Jim Mann can be reached at 758-4407 or e-mail jmann@dailyinterlake.com