Santa Monica Police Respond to Mountain Lion Santa Monica Backyard Sighting
Santa Monica police responded Friday after a mountain lion was seen relaxing in the backyard of a home in the 700 block of 14th Street, just north of Montana Avenue. The mountain lion santa monica sighting drew the California Department of Fish and Wildlife just before noon, while officers worked to remove the animal safely.
Police told nearby residents to remain indoors, keep pets inside, and avoid approaching or trying to photograph the lion. Anyone who spotted the animal was asked to call 911 immediately from a safe location.
14th Street and Montana Avenue
Photographs of the animal showed it appeared to be in good health. That helped distinguish this encounter from the 2012 case in Santa Monica, when a mountain lion was discovered on the Promenade, tried to escape before it could be tranquilized, and was killed.
The sighting also fit a pattern that researchers say is rare. National Park Service researchers tracking the local population have recorded more than 250,000 GPS points showing that lions strongly avoid humans and rarely enter developed areas, even though 10 to 15 adult and subadult mountain lions are estimated to live in the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding areas.
The local population also faces multiple pressures. Researchers have documented more than 32 mountain lions killed by vehicle strikes since 2002, and 28 of 29 tested lions returned positive results for rodenticide poisoning. Adult males in the region average a territory of roughly 144 square miles, while females average roughly 52 square miles.
Santa Monica Mountains Lions
The 101 Freeway has served as a near-impenetrable barrier to movement since 2002, with only a handful of documented crossings. P-22 crossed both the 101 and the 405 to reach Griffith Park and occupied a roughly 9-square-mile range there before he was euthanized in December 2022 after injuries from a vehicle strike and attacks on small dogs.
The bigger landscape changed again in 2018, when the Woolsey Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres and destroyed roughly half of available lion habitat and approximately 88% of National Park Service parkland in the area. Two collared lions died in that fire, including P-64.
On Feb. 12, 2026, the California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-0 to list Southern and Central Coast mountain lions as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. For residents near 14th Street, Friday’s instructions were more immediate: stay inside, keep pets in, and let officers and wildlife officials handle the lion from a distance.
