Far South of the 210 Freeway, a Mountain Lion Turns Up In A Downtown Neighborhood

A young mountain lion that wandered deeper into Pasadena than city officials can remember happening before — well south of the 210 Freeway and miles south of the foothills — was cornered against an apartment building for hours Friday and tranquilized by a state wildlife officer before being assessed medically for release back to its natural habitat.

The cat turned up around 11 a.m. near Del Mar Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, in a dense grid of apartments and condominiums far below the wild edges of the San Gabriel Mountains. Wildlife rarely crosses below the 210.

Pasadena’s Chief Communications Officer, Lisa Derderian, said that in more than 30 years she could not recall a mountain lion reaching that far south of the freeway.

How it got there puzzled the biologists who responded. Officers with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the animal had wandered across an overpass or even crossed the freeway — a barrier that kills the cats far more often than it lets them pass. The National Park Service has counted 32 mountain lions struck and killed by vehicles in the Los Angeles region since 2002. The mountain lion may have slipped down through open corridors around the Rose Bowl, biologists said, though they were not sure.

The response unfolded over much of the afternoon and had an impact on street traffic.

Police closed roads around the intersection and told residents of a roughly 40-unit apartment complex to stay inside. The city’s emergency alert urged anyone nearby to stay indoors as a precaution.  officers directed students to quickly get into vehicles and leave

A nearby school let out during the response, and officers directed students to quickly get into vehicles and leave.  Hundreds of people gathered blocks away for Pasadena Unified graduations at the Pasadena Convention Center.

The animal — not full grown, at about 80 pounds — spent the afternoon in the shade against the building.

Around 4 p.m., a wildlife officer stepped into one of the apartments and fired a tranquilizer dart through an open window. The cat moved into bushes about 100 feet away before officers secured it. No one was hurt.

“But this is the first, and I’ve been doing this in the city for over 30 years, the first time I’ve seen or heard a mountain lion south of the 210 Freeway,” Derderian said.

Officials and wildlife experts attributed the animal’s reach into the urban core to the Eaton Fire, which burned through foothill habitat above Pasadena and Altadena beginning in January 2025.

“The Eaton Fire had massive, devastating effects, not too far away from the cougar’s natural habitat, so it’s very possible they’re here looking for food, water and shelter,” said Kevin McManus of the Pasadena Humane Society.

It was not the first cat to come down this spring, only the one that came farthest. A mountain lion was reported about a month earlier near Orange Grove Boulevard and Craig Avenue, closer to the foothills and north of the freeway.

Derderian put it plainly during the response: “We are seeing more wildlife coming lower.”

The response also reflected a change in the law. In February, state wildlife regulators listed mountain lions across Southern California as a threatened species, barring anyone from killing them without a permit and pushing officers toward capture and relocation.

By evening, the cat had been loaded into a cage and trucked toward the Angeles National Forest, where it is to be released after a medical check.

“The news is a safe ending,” Derderian said.