Injured Mountain Lion Found Hiding In Monrovia Home's Crawl Space

MONROVIA, CA — A couple in Monrovia got the scare of their lives Thursday morning when they realized that mountain lion had moved into their crawl space. It was the roaring that gave the lion away.

According to wildlife officials, it's likely the same animal neighbors have been spotting for weeks in the mornings and early evenings around Monrovia.

With the help of a police robot, officials were able to locate the puma beneath the home, in the 700 block of West Colorado Boulevard about 8 a.m., said Monrovia police Lt. Daniel Verna.

Silvia Escobar told CBSLA that she heard the animal growling, and her husband was able to snap a picture of the cornered cat.

“It was scary, it was scary,” Escobar told CBS. “We were like, ‘how much longer are we going to be stuck in the house,’ you know?”

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials tranquilized and removed he puma. When they did, it became apparent the cat was badly injured with a long pink gash on its neck, according to department spokesman Tim Daly.

"The first thing is to get it to a vet to determine the severity of the injury and the best treatment," Daly said.

The animal will be taken to the state's wildlifes investigation lab in Sacramento for treatment, he said.

It's not the first big cat to move into an LA area crawl space. Five years ago, the famous Griffith Park mountain lion was found in the crawl space of a home in Los Feliz. He was found by home security technicians who saw him while installing equipment in the home.

Mountain lions are endangered in the Los Angeles area. Increasingly hemmed in by freeways and housing developments, the local population suffers from inbreeding, and the animals are frequently killed trying to cross Los Angeles freeways.

The isolation caused by urban development and freeways could lead to the animals' extinction over the next 50 years, according to a study released in 2019.

The study found that the isolation will lead to a rapid decline in genetic diversity, which could affect the lions' ability to reproduce, something known as "inbreeding depression."

SEE ALSO:

• Famous Griffith Park Mountain Lion Shacks Up in Mansion's Crawl Space
• Video Shows Lion Stalked By Larger Lion Before Fatal 405 Crossing
• Local Mountain Lions In Danger of Extinction, Study Finds
  

City News Service contributed to this report.