Mountain lion seen in western Las Vegas causes stir on social media
Social media users in the western Las Vegas Valley are warning residents to be on the lookout for a mountain lion spotted in a residential neighborhood Friday night.
Resident Melissa Boyd said in a phone interview Monday that the video of the mountain lion was shared on her NextDoor app Saturday, captured by another resident’s Ring camera video.
It shows the mountain lion jumping a residential fence at night. Boyd, who lives in the area of Charleston Boulevard and South Durango Drive, said the community alert said the cat was spotted in a neighborhood near Hualapai Way and West Desert Inn Road.
“I hope they don’t kill this mountain lion,” Boyd said. “I hope they are able to tranquilize this mountain lion and relocate.”
Boyd said she shared the video on her Facebook page, where it was shared by hundreds of others.
Resident Ronni Land shared images on social media showing the cat as it prepared to jump over the fence. She suspects the cat was in search of food and water.
“All I was trying to do was warn neighbors, and I just don’t want anyone to hurt the animal,” Land said.
Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Misael Parra said police received two calls about “a large cat” in the western valley since Thursday.
Parra said the first came in just before 3 a.m. Thursday reporting that a cat, “possibly a cougar,” was observed by a resident in the 9100 block of West Flamingo Road. Police received another call at 11:22 a.m. Sunday, reporting the sighting of a large cat near West Charleston Boulevard and South Palace Court.
Parra said police could not locate the animal, and in both cases Clark County Animal Control was notified.
Lauren MacLeod, an urban wildlife coordinator with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said her agency also received calls about a large cat in the western valley, many of them Sunday night. She said the agency is urging anyone who sees such an animal to report it immediately to the Department of Wildlife at 775-688-1331.
She said there is a good chance the cat has already returned to the wild.
“They are very elusive animals,” MacLeod said. “They don’t want to be around humans.”
She encouraged pet owners in neighborhoods where the mountain lion has been reported to keep cats inside. Dog owners are encouraged to only walk their dogs on a tight leash. The goal of the agency, she said, is to track down the mountain lion and return it to the wild.
“It is a large predator animal, so you would always want to use caution,” MacLeod said, adding that “humans are not typically a target.”
In July, a mountain lion roamed a far west Summerlin neighborhood before the cat was tranquilized and relocated to its natural habitat. That cat encounter happened in the general vicinity of Desert Foothills Drive and Far Hills Avenue.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
