Los Angeles

Mountain Lion Found Hiding Under Monrovia Home

June 25, 2020 / 3:30 PM PDT / KCAL News

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MONROVIA (CBSLA) – A mountain lion hiding in a crawl space under a Monrovia home was safely captured Thursday morning.

California Department of Fish & Wildlife staff tranquilize a mountain lion after it was found hiding underneath a Monrovia home. June 25, 2020. (CBSLA)

A couple got quite a scare when they discovered the animal under their home in the 700 block of West Colorado Boulevard Wednesday night.

Silvia Escobar told CBSLA that she found it after hearing it growl. Her husband snapped a photo and contacted Monrovia police.

"It was scary, it was scary," Escobar said. "We were like, 'how much longer are we going to be stuck in the house,' you know?"

When police responded, they couldn't immediately find it. However, California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) staff spotted it Thursday morning and were able to safely tranquilize it.

CDFW later confirmed the mountain lion had a significant neck injury and was being taken up to a state laboratory in Sacramento for treatment and observation.

The couple, meanwhile, had been camping out of state, so they didn't realize there had been several mountain lion sightings in the neighborhood over the last few weeks.

Monrovia police reported Tuesday morning that an adult mountain lion was spotted in the 800 block of West Olive Avenue and the 600 block of Monterey Avenue, the same area where Thursday's mountain lion was captured.

California Department of Fish & Wildlife staff tranquilize a mountain lion after it was found hiding underneath a Monrovia home. June 25, 2020. (CBSLA)

Meanwhile, on June 16, a couple who live about one mile away captured security video of a mountain lion roaming through their backyard. CDFW staff told CBSLA it's likely the same cat. They are going to evaluate it to ensure it's healthy before they release it back into the wild.

Silvia said she had expected to run into mountain lions while camping, not when she returned home.

Security video of a mountain lion wandering through a home's backyard in Monrovia, Calif., on June 16, 2020. (Lynda Noell)

"They said there was a lot of bears, but we never seen any bears," Silvia said. "And then we come here, and we get a mountain lion."

Mountain lion populations in Southern California have become increasingly threatened by residential development, habitat loss, wildfires, rat poisons, inbreeding and isolation.

Researchers say mountain lion populations in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains could go extinct within the next 50 years. To help combat this, the California Department of Transportation is working on a plan to build an $87 million wildlife crossing along the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills.