Two mountain lion spotted in Palo Alto neighborhood, residents concerned

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Palo Alto police are warning residents about a grown mountain lion and a kitten that were spotted Thursday morning in a residential neighborhood not far from several schools.

The wild cats were spotted not far from Webster Street and Lowell in Palo Alto. Residents received a robo-call from police.

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"There was a cub and a mountain lion mom or whatever spotted in a tree," said Diana Irvin, a Palo Alto resident.

Police say a resident with experience dealing with mountain lions called police around 6:20 a.m. Thursday.

He reported some dogs had chased the two big cats into a redwood tree in the back yard of a home.

But once officers arrived on the scene, the mountain lions were gone.

Diana Irvin says by the time she heard the news her grandchildren had already left for school.

"It's scary to think about that the kids had ridden their bikes by and probably didn't know that there was something," said Irvin.

Palo Alto police, animal services, and park rangers are now patrolling the streets looking for the mountain lions but so far, no luck finding them.

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Workers with Palo Alto Animal Services have tranquilizer guns but all options are on the table if the big cats are found.

"Again, the goal is to protect everybody including the cats, but the first priority is human life," said Captain Zach Perron, with Palo Alto Police.

A similar incident took place in the same neighborhood back in 2004. In that incident, Palo Alto police ended up shooting and killing the big cat.

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