SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) — In the North Bay, a mountain lion was captured in Santa Rosa and has since been released back into the wild.
The animal was found in front of a home late Tuesday night.
The mountain lion, a young male, passed his health checks so he can return to his natural habitat. His visit left neighbors in a quiet neighborhood stunned.
“I thought you know meet a skunk or something like that on a sidewalk but never a mountain lion,” Eric Dengler said.
The sighting was in the area of Saint Francis Road and De Soto Drive in Santa Rosa.
Dengler watched the commotion from his kitchen window around 10 p.m. Tuesday when the mountain lion was found near his home.
“The whole front of the house got lit up by police cars and spotlights so I called their non-emergency number to find out what was going on you know if there was a burglar or somebody on the loose but nope they said it was a mountain lion two doors up,” he said.
The lion moved from Dengler’s neighbor’s home to his home.
Dengler says he caught the aftermath when wildlife officials tranquilized the big cat.
“The folks here did a really good job,” Tiffany Yap said. “They notified authorities you know they didn’t approach the animal and they allowed the wildlife officials to handle it.”
Yap is a wildlife scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity in Oakland.
Yap says this recent sighting serves as a reminder we are living in a mountain lion habitat.
“It’s really important to find ways to safely coexist and that includes making sure we have enough wildlife connectivity for these lions to roam freely through our developments and through our roads by creating wildlife crossings and making developments better suited for animals to move around,” Yap said.
Just last week, one mountain lion – a five-year-old female – was taken in after roaming around schools in Rohnert Park and later euthanized due to an untreatable illness.
Back in Santa Rosa, a recent sighting in an area close to nature.
Dengler says he will be more aware in his neighborhood.
“Especially if I’m starting to walk this late at night,” he said.
Wildlife experts say if you encounter a mountain lion – stay calm, do not approach it, never run away and try your best to appear intimidating.