The mountain lion, which was found in the trees behind Tahitian Terrace below the El Medio bluffs is being tagged before being moved to a new habitat.
Moved to a Larger Habitat in National Forest
Los Angeles Police Officer John “Rusty” Redican and his partner Earl Wright were on beach patrol this morning (June 24) when they received a message about a mountain lion sighting at Tahitian Terrace mobile home park. They arrived at the site, which is at the corner above Pacific Coast Highway and Temescal Canyon Road, around 6:30 a.m.
Redican located the lion and called California Department Fish and Wildlife (formerly known as Fish and Game). Once they found the animal, it was sedated. The lion had not been tagged, and Fish and Wildlife officials did that before they drove the cat to a new location in the wild, where it was released.
After the mountain lion was found and tranquilized, it was carried by officials to a pickup.
“The kitty was tranquilized and will be dropped in another area of the Angeles National Forest, where she will be less likely to be struck by a car,” Redican said, noting that by 10 a.m. the cat was on the road headed to its new home.
The mountain lion sightings started on Thursday night on Bowdoin, when a dog walker saw what appeared to be a cat lying in wait on the Methodist stairs (Haverford and Bowdoin). Neighbors who lived along Temescal Canyon reported that coyotes were howling for hours.
Friday morning, more sightings were reported on the social media forum, Nextdoor Palisades. “My nanny just ran home after seeing a mountain lion in front of the Pali [Palisades High School] parking lot. The mountain lion saw her and ran up the tree. I’d avoid the area for a bit.”
An excerpt from Outdoor Magazine California Department of Fish and Game (May 2013, “How Safe Are Humans When Lions Are Close By?”) stated, “Mountain lions occur most anywhere you can find their primary prey, which is deer.” Temescal Canyon is home to deer.
The story continued: “DFG has scientific evidence that mountain lions inhabiting areas close to humans are no real cause for concern. We have either conducted or been associated with mountain lion studies that have monitored the movements in such areas. We typically capture mountain lions and place a radio collar on them in order to track their movements. The information gleaned from these collars has provided some illuminating results. They have indicated that mountain lions regularly use such areas more frequently than we have previously thought, and that these lions generally attempt to stay away from people.”
Another person on Nextdoor wrote that she had heard nonstop barking this morning and determined that it was coyotes. After she spoke to someone at Tahitian Terrace and heard it could be a mountain lion, she texted Officer Redican.
“He went over. We owe him a huge thank you for all he does for our community,” the woman wrote. “You rock Rusty!!”
Yet another person chimed in, “Thank you LAPD and Fish and Game for saving this beauty! So glad the animal was taken care of and not killed.”
(Visit: mountainlion.org/portalprotectencounters.asp)
LAPD officer Rusty Redican took the lead in making sure the mountain lion was alive and safely transported to a new area.
Rusty is our collective hero! This little beauty was captured about a block from my house and I am both relieved that we are safe and grateful that the lioness is too! I lived in Africa for 10 years and never had a lion this close to my front door! Exciting times…