Mountain lion spotted in busy Old Town Pasadena, steps from shops, restaurants and hotels

A mountain lion sighting rattled the Old Town Pasadena community Friday afternoon, prompting a shelter-in-place advisory before wildlife officials tranquilized and transported the animal. 

Neighbors reported seeing the mountain lion at Del Mar Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, resting in the shade next to an apartment building.  

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists, wildlife officers, and Pasadena police officers responded to the scene, closing off roads and securing public safety. 

Biologists with CDFW say it was not a full-grown mountain lion and likely weighed around 80 lbs. They are not sure why it wandered as far as it did from the mountains, but open corridors around the Rose Bowl may have been its pathway to the highly urban spot of condominiums and apartments.

Lisa Derderian, public information officer for the City of Pasadena, said that over the last three decades, she has never seen a mountain lion in this part of town, south of the 210 Freeway.

"It's very rare for a mountain lion to come south of the 210 Freeway, this low from the foothills. We're literally several miles from the foothill area where we experienced the Eaton Fires, so we are seeing more wildlife coming lower," Derderian said. 

 Around 4:00 p.m., a wildlife officer went into one of the apartment units and shot the tranquilizer gun at the animal through a window. CDFW loaded the mountain lion in a cage and onto a truck to transport it out of the area, to the Angeles National Forest.

"But this is the first, and I've been doing this in the city for over 30 years, the first time I've seen or heard a mountain lion south of the 210 Freeway," Derderian said.

One month ago, a mountain lion was spotted in a Pasadena front yard at Orange Grove Boulevard and Craig Avenue, just over three miles away, above the 210 Freeway, and closer to Eaton Canyon.