iStockphoto / welcomia / Bransen Jackson
For most Angelinos, seeing a mountain lion is something that will only ever happen at a zoo. While the state of California has the most mountain lions of any state in America, spotting them in the wild is still a rare occurrence as they rarely venture into busy areas and typically only allow themselves to be seen when they want to make their presence known.
But sometimes a cougar finds its way into a busy area and leads to pandemonium! Such was the case last week when a Santa Monica mountain lion was spotted on 14th street and ran around the crowded neighborhood, causing streets to be closed off and residents ordered to stay indoors, as wildlife officials tracked it down to tranquilize the big cat and relocate it.
Santa Monica Mountain Lion Leads To Street Closures, Residents Ordered To Stay Indoors
Because Santa Monica is a relatively typical Upper Middle Class to Upper Class neighborhood there are a lot of cameras. Homes have security cameras on their doors and in the backyards. That combined with security cameras on the streets ultimately led to a lot of footage of this Santa Monica mountain lion running around the neighborhood before it was tranquilized, captured, and relocated.
Did ABC 7 News really need to bust out the helicopter to film police tracking the mountain lion throughout the Santa Monica neighborhood? No. But this is greater Los Angeles and ABC 7 never misses a chance to let the whirlybird fly in pursuit of a good news story. They captured this footage during the hunt for the mountain lion:
This apex predator was initially spotted on Friday morning by children walking to school which makes it a somewhat eerie story but thankfully nothing happened there. After hours of chasing after the mountain lion, it was finally tranquilized by a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist at the 400 block of Euclid Street on Friday.
Afterward, Santa Monica PD released a statement saying “the mountain lion will be evaluated and safely relocated in coordination with wildlife experts, including the National Park Service’s Santa Monica Mountains study area team. We thank the community for its patience, cooperation, and care throughout this response.” This came after they initially warned the public:
Police Responding to Possible Mountain Lion Sighting near 14th and Montana
Santa Monica Police Department personnel are responding to a report of a possible mountain lion sighting in a residential area.
Out of an abundance of caution, officers are in the area assessing the… pic.twitter.com/gqiSohE7Vu
— Santa Monica Police (@SantaMonicaPD) May 29, 2026
This clip from WTOL 11 compiled various moments from the Santa Monica mountain lion chase, capture, and relocation operation on Friday:
All’s well that ends well, right? The mountain lion was safely removed from the busy Santa Monica neighborhood and will now be relocated to a safe wilderness area and able to roam free once again without danger of being hit by a trash truck or USPS van making the rounds.