Mountain lion captured after roaming Azusa neighborhood
AZUSA, Calif. (KABC) -- A neighborhood in Azusa is breathing easier Monday after a mountain lion roaming through backyards was captured.
Azusa police received a call around 6:15 a.m. indicating a mountain lion was seen near a home in the 600 block of West Virginia Ann Drive.
RAW VIDEO: Mountain lion roams backyard of Azusa home
The animal wandered through backyards, even pawing at the backdoor of one home. Authorities asked area residents to stay inside for their safety.
Officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were able to track the animal down and strike it with a tranquilizer dart.
Authorities noted that the lion appeared to be blind in one eye.
The lion was placed on a truck and was set to be taken to a suitable habitat, Fish and Wildlife officials said.
"We're going to take it up into open space, sit with it for a while. I have a biologist and a supervisor on the way, just to make sure it's OK," said Adam Smith with Fish and Wildlife.
A 91-year-old resident described seeing the big cat right outside her kitchen window.
"Oh I grabbed my chair because it was right outside my door, my kitchen door, and he stood looking at me with big blue eyes like that and I said, 'Oh mama mia!'" she described.
Authorities initially told Eyewitness News that the lion is a female. They later clarified that the lion is a 10-year-old male.
