Injured mountain lion cub rescued from Castaic neighborhood by wildlife officials
An injured mountain lion cub was rescued from a Castaic neighborhood on Wednesday, hours after it was spotted lying in the road by neighbors in the area.
The 6-month-old female cub was finally captured after an hours-long chase by California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials. They said that it's still unclear how the cub was injured, but neighbors speculate she might have been hit by a car.
"I look outside and I see the tail," recalled Marcella Marciano-Murphy, who lives in the neighborhood near Hillcrest Parkway and Olympic Street, where the cut was first spotted. "I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's in my front yard!'"
It took nearly three hours for the CDFW officials to finally grab the cub and sedate her. They checked for obvious signs of injury before she was taken to a nearby veterinarian hospital, they told CBS LA.
Neighbors say that it's common for them to see all types of wildlife in the area.
"We tend to see mountain lions, we've seen bobcats, deer come across they eat the roses," said Cendi Angelestro, another resident who witnessed the chase on Wednesday. "They were here first and it's important to have your wildlife."
She said that she's been watching the cub, and possibly her parents, on her home cameras, footage that she turned over to CDFW so they could track down the family.
"What they want to do is to figure out where she's located, where mom is and what area so they can try to reunite mom and baby," Angelestro said.
CDFW officials said they're working to determine if the cub was actually hit by a car, and asked the public to continue reporting wildlife sightings.
"That's always helpful for our tracking data," said Cort Klopping, with CDFW. "Lets us know where the activity is happening."
Officials said that they are still running tests of the big cat, but that she seems to be trending in the right direction towards rehabilitation and release.
