Mountain lion captured in crawl space underneath Monrovia home dies
MONROVIA, Calif. - The mountain lion that was captured in a Monrovia neighborhood late last month has died, Fish and Wildlife officials announced Monday morning.
The big cat was under the care of veterinarians and was being treated for a neck injury after being bitten by another animal.
Wildlife officials said he suffered other health issues including dehydration and kidney problems.
Officials plan to perform a necropsy to determine his exact cause of death.
The mountain lion that appeared to be malnourished had been seen roaming around a Monrovia neighborhood for several days before it was captured on June 25, officials said.
SKYFOX captured aerial images of the big cat in a resident's yard in the 700 block of Colorado Boulevard.
FOX 11's Stu Mundel reported a resident discovered the mountain lion lying underneath her home.
The resident added that the mountain lion had killed her cat who was nursing kittens.
“He had gone into the crawl hole and his tail was sticking out so the warden poked it to tranquilize it, but she said he was so skinny that the needle broke. So, they weren’t sure if they got him really, really good” resident Silva Escobar said.
The Escobar family enjoys spending time outdoors and said they had just returned from a camping trip.
“We went camping to Idaho and they said there’s a scare of bears there and then we come home and there’s a mountain lion under our house so we thought were going to have to stay in more," Escobar added.
FOX 11's Gigi Graciette exclusively obtained a picture of the mountain lion who had sustained an injury to his neck.
The mountain lion was tranquilized by Fish and Game officials upon arrival and taken to a veterinarian.
California has an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 mountain lions. A Fish and Wildlife spokesman says one of his colleagues has spent the past seven years in the California wild counting mountain lions with cameras and traps to get a better idea of the state’s mountain lion population.
Residents in the Monrovia neighborhood were cautioned to remain vigilant after multiple reports of a mountain lion sighting between Saturday and Tuesday morning.
The mountain lion appeared to be malnourished and residents were asked not to leave their pets and small children unattended.
Monrovia police said multiple residents reported that they saw a mountain lion roaming in in area in the 800 block of West Olive Avenue, as well as in the 600 block of South Monterey Ave., located near Colorado Boulevard.
On Monday around 11 p.m., the mountain lion was seen and captured on video taking a slow stroll around Olive Ave. The big cat then walked along someone’s driveway where it jumped over a fence and disappeared into the Ramos’ family backyard.
“We’re five minutes from the mountain…I didn’t expect it so it’s scary,” Monica Ramos told FOX 11.
“He’s very familiar with the area and now we are very familiar with him because it’s the second day that we’ve run into him here on our neighbor’s porch and that’s not a good thing,” another neighbor said.
Police and wildlife officials searched the neighborhood on Monday night and did not locate the mountain lion, but do believe it’s the same one that’s been spotted in the neighborhood for several weeks.
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On Tuesday morning, FOX 11 exclusively obtained a picture of the mountain lion from David Guzman who resides in the area.
Since the sightings, officers with the Monrovia Police Department conducted neighborhood checks along Olive Ave.
Fish and Game officials were aware and were working to rescue the big cat and release him back into the wild.
FOX 11's Gigi Graciette, Stu Mundel, and Hailey Winslow contributed to this report.