One Tustin family was in for quite the shock when they let their dog out in the morning and it chased a cat up a tree, according to the Tustin Police Department .
When they looked a little closer however, this wasn’t just any cat, but a California Mountain Lion!
A big thanks to California Department of Fish and Wildlife , Mission Viejo Animal Services, OC Animal Care, and the Orange County Fire Authority for their parts in bringing Monday’s “cat in a tree” call to a happy ending. The lion was safely sedated and handled by trained professionals and released at the the Cleveland National Forest .
Mountain lions can be dangerous and should never be approached.
The mountain lion population in Orange County is isolated to the Santa Ana Mountains and therefore have a lack of DNA diversity which is also a threat to the future of these animals, according to Orange County Outdoors …