The bull buffalo that was found dead in a William S. Hart Park pen may have been corraled there without food or water over the weekend, residents who live near the park said Thursday.

    Hart Park’s acting superintendent, Tina Raleigh, denied the residents’ claims.
    Officials at the county park said earlier that the 1 1/2-year-old, apparently healthy bison may have been deliberately killed. Raleigh had the animal’s carcass destroyed without a necropsy.
    Raleigh said such a postmortem examination would have been unrevealing because the bull had been dead for too long and coyotes had devoured much of its entrails.  
    Meanwhile, county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich on Thursday ordered additional county departments to join the county police and parks departments’ investigation of the death.
    Neighbors to Hart Park said they saw a distressed buffalo locked in a corral Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening — in the same spot they later saw coyotes devouring a bull’s carcass Monday night.
    Raleigh said Thursday that no buffalo had been put into the corral at any time over the weekend, and that her staff keeps detailed records of such matters. Raleigh declined to comment further.
    County animal keeper Dave Stives said Tuesday that when he found the bull’s carcass in the corral early in the day, he saw several sets of strange footprints and two CO2 cartridges nearby. Such cartridges are used to propel tranquilizer darts, as well as BBs and paintballs.

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