Mountain Lion Caught After Hunkering Down In Backyard Of Azusa Home

AZUSA (CBSLA) – A large half-blind female mountain lion roaming through the backyards of several homes in Azusa Monday morning has been safely caught.

The lion was discovered in the 600 block of West Virginia Ann Drive, near the Azusa Greens Country Club golf course, Azusa police reported at around 7 a.m. Police used a drone to monitor the animal while officers forced a perimeter around the area. Officers used a loudspeaker to warn residents to stay inside.

"It just stopped and stared, we kind of did a staring contest," neighbor Deborah Moore told CBS2. "It's really a beautiful animal, I wasn't afraid of it."

After jumping several fences, the mountain lion was contained to the backyard of one home, police said.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff responded and safely tranquilized the animal at around 9:30 a.m. The mountain lion was picked up and carried into the bed of a CDFW pickup truck.

Officials said the mountain lion is blind in one eye and may have been stuck in the neighborhood.

"It's blind in one eye, one eye is totally white," said Adam Smith, spokesperson for CDFW. "So, we're not really sure how healthy it is, it hasn't been able to get out of here. So because of that, we went ahead and tranquilized it."

Officials later released her back into the wild.