Mountain lion tranquilized on campus

A mountain lion that was spotted in a tree by the Kittredge pond around 2 p.m. today, has been successfully tranquilized.

The mountain lion spotted near the pond at Kittredge. This photo was taken by freshman open option student Hannah Butler. (Courtesy Hannah Butler)

Cmdr. Robert Axmacher of the CU Police Department said officers responded to a report of a mountain lion on campus at 2 p.m. after a staff member spotted it in a tree in the Kittredge complex.

“At about two‘o’clock today a CU staff member spotted the mountain lion in a tree near the Kittredge pond,” Axmacher said. “Our officers responded and set up a parameter.”

No one was reported hurt as students and faculty were cleared from the area.

“There were some students in the area who were extremely cooperative about returning to the residents halls and they were able to watch from inside of the residence halls.”

Wildlife officials were called and tranquilized the mountain lion.

“Open Space Rangers along with the Division of Wildlife came out and they were able to tranquilize the mountain lion,” Axmacher said. “It took about ten minutes for the tranquilizers to kick in and once they did he fell out of the tree and they were able to use a tarp to move him into a cage.”

It is unknown how long the mountain lion had been in the area.

Keith Hughes, a sophomore engineering major, said that he barely noticed the mountain lion as he walked by the tree.

“I barely noticed him walking by, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it, actually,” Hughes said. “I wasn’t scared really, because there were a lot of people around, and it was a small mountain lion. It was just unexpected for me.”

Mike Komar, an 18-year-old freshman political science major, said he was walking with friends by the Kittredge pond when they saw the mountain lion.

“One of our friends was walking up the sidewalk and when she got thirty feet away she just stopped and got all of our attention, and told us to come up, and we didn’t know what she was looking at,” Komar said. “She pointed to it, and we saw that there was a young mountain lion in the tree.”

Komar said that the mountain lion seemed to be afraid of the crowds gathering around after it was initially spotted in the tree.

“You could tell that little mountain lion was kind of scared of all the people around,” Komar said. “It definitely made my day. My day was pretty boring up to that point, so I was pretty happy. We usually see a fox or a raccoon, not a mountain lion.”

Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Nora Keating at Nora.keating@colorado.edu.