Evans failed several attempts to tranquilize the lion, a 14-year-old male named Matthai. First, Evans tried to load a tranquilizer gun, but it was rendered unusable when a dart appeared to break inside of it, Griggs said. He then left for his nearby house to retrieve a blowgun. Upon returning, Evans hit the lion twice with tranquilizer darts fired from the blowgun, but "the lion showed no signs of becoming sleepy" and was "walking around in circles and growling," according to the report.