A mountain lion was spotted in Redwood City on Wednesday around noon, and authorities are calling for extreme caution in the event it is found.
The wild animal was spotted in the area of Turnsworth Ave and Edgewood Rd, which is why the Redwood City Police Department has called to keep your pets inside, and stay in a safe and secure location.
In addition, he asked residents who manage to see the animal to call 911 and provide information so that the specimen can be captured and brought to safety.
Mountain lions - also called mountain lions - are solitary animals found throughout the state of California.
Approximately half of the state is suitable habitat for them and they can generally be found where deer, their primary prey, are found.
Mountain lions are slender, agile cats. Adults are generally just over 2 feet tall at the shoulders and can be 5 to 9 feet long from nose to tail.
They have large paws and proportionally the largest hind legs in the cat family, a physique that allows them a great jumping ability, as they can jump vertically up to 18 feet.
Coloration is simple, typically reddish, with lighter patches on the lower body, including the jaws, chin and throat.
Like domestic cats, they vocalize in whistles, growls and purrs. Mountain lions are obligate carnivores, meaning they feed only on meat.
With the passage of the California Wildlife Protection Act in 1990, mountain lions became a specially protected mammal, a formal classification that prohibits the killing of mountain lions in the state.
However, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife may issue depredation permits that allow a lion to be killed if it attacks livestock or pets.
Since 2001, an average of 94 mountain lions statewide have been killed annually under depredation permits. In the last two decades, nearly 1,800 mountain lions have been killed through this system.
Mountain lions can also be killed if they become a threat to public safety, but there have been fewer than twenty verified mountain lion attacks on humans throughout California since 1890.
It should be noted that mountain lions can also be affected by human-induced changes in fire regimes in local ecosystems.
For example, the increasing frequency of fires due to human-caused ignitions is putting large areas of native shrubland conversion to non-native grasslands at risk. These converted areas provide a less suitable habitat type for mountain lions.
With information from the organization Los Padres ForestWatch
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