BRENTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (CNS) — A mountain lion wandered into the Brentwood area today, prompting a precautionary lockdown of an elementary school and eluding authorities for much of the day, but the animal was eventually tranquilized and captured.
Police responded to the area of Gretna Green Way and San Vicente Boulevard shortly after 10 a.m.
The lion was initially hiding amid some trees in an alleyway near the Brentwood Country Club.
State Department of Fish and Wildlife officials were called to the scene in hopes of tranquilizing the lion. According to reports from the scene, the lion bolted when wildlife officials tried to approach it several hours later, and the cat was hiding in a wooded area near the country club golf course.
Around 2 p.m., the lion was believed to have been hit with at least one tranquilizer dart, but it managed to run from wildlife officials, scrambling up a tree. According to reports from the scene, the lion was struck by at least one more dart, and officials stood by, waiting for the lion to fall asleep.
But about an hour later, the lion leapt from the tree and scrambled away again, appearing to show no signs of slowing from the tranquilizer. Residents in the area were being advised to remain indoors.
Around 4:30 p.m., officials found the sedated animal in the backyard of a home. The lion was tied up and muzzled and placed in the bed of a pickup. It was not immediately clear where the animal would be taken.
A CBS2 report from the scene indicated that the animal began twitching in the rear of the truck before it was driven away, possibly suffering some type of medical emergency. Wildlife authorities appeared to be treating it in the truck.
The lion did not appear to be wearing a tracking collar, meaning it is not one of the dozens being tracked by federal wildlife officials in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Nearby Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School was placed on a precautionary lockdown due to the lion.
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