Mountain Lion Cub Roams Pacific Palisades Neighborhood
PACIFIC PALISADES (CBSLA) – A young mountain lion was spotted behind a home in Pacific Palisades Thursday night.
Sometime before 8 p.m. the mountain lion cub was discovered in the 17000 block of Calle De Palermo. A homeowner told CBS2 she heard her dog barking at a tree. When she came outside, she saw the mountain lion sitting in the tree.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife was then called out. CDFW officials told the homeowner that the cub's mother is likely nearby and will return for the cub within the next few days.
The region's freeway network and shrinking habitat has served to isolate the mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains, biologists say. At least 18 mountain lions have been killed on a freeway or road in the area since 2002, according to the National Park Service.
The latest mountain lion killed was P-55, who was found dead in July in the central Santa Monica Mountains, in the hills above Malibu.
In June, four mountain lion cubs were discovered in a den on a former nuclear testing site in Simi Hills.
Caltrans has proposed building a wildlife bridge across the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills that would allow animals to travel between the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills.
The NPS has been studying mountain lion movements in the Santa Monica Mountains since 2002 using GPS collars.
