Doorbell cam captures the moment two aggressive mountain lions fight to the death on a suburban street in California
- Two mountain lions brawled it out on Hastings Drive in Belmont, California – roughly 20 miles outside of San Francisco
- Part of the aggressive encounter was caught on a resident’s doorbell cam
- Residents are now being extra cautious about letting their pets and children out alone, despite the state Department of Wildlife saying the cat won’t be a threat
- Neighbors said the triumphant cat dragged the dead one across the street before wandering the neighborhood
- Neighborhood watch is still searching for tracks, but the cat has not reappeared
A big cat showdown was caught on camera.
California residents woke up to a frightening scene as two aggressive mountain lions fought to the death on a suburban street in the early morning.
Residents of Belmont, just 20 miles outside of San Francisco, were startled to find the creatures going at it in the middle of Hastings Drive around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
A doorbell camera picked up part of the wild encounter, as the two big cats can be heard duking it out with intense growls, before the sole winner calmly stalks through the suburban area after reportedly dragging the its dead foe down the street.
The California Department Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said the surviving mountain lion is not a threat to humans; it’s unknown where the creature went, as it didn’t leave tracks and hasn’t reappeared that residents can tell.
Neighbors are still on high alert and have been advising each other not to let their kids or dogs out alone.
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Two mountain lions brawled it out on Hastings Drive in Belmont, California, roughly 20 miles from San Francisco. The lone mountain lion (pictured) killed the other before wandering around the community
The mountain lion even entered a backyard before taking off. Many neighbors have said they will be staying on high alert and not letting their children and pets outside alone, despite the California Department of Wildlife Services saying it does not think the remaining mountain lion is a threat to the community
‘Makes me nervous, very nervous,’ Lisa Weidanz, who lives in the neighborhood, told Fox 2. ‘A mountain lion, dragging another mountain lion. Oh my goodness.’
Weidanz also said she would be ‘warning her whole family’ to be aware of lions coming into the neighborhood.
Another neighbor told Fox 2 that he would be ‘more careful’ during his evening walks and keep an eye out for the lone lion.
Tiffany Yap, a wildlife expert, told Fox 2 that the scary event was just ‘mountain lions being mountain lions.’
‘It is a common occurrence for mountain lions to kill each other over territory. I think sometimes it becomes a greater occurrence when they are boxed in and their habitat is limited, and so with a lot of habitat loss and fragmentation we might see it a little bit more,’ she said.
More importantly, the animal is actually a huge part of the California biodiversity.
‘They are important for a lot of other species and a lot of biodiversity throughout California,’ Yap said.
Despite their necessary existence in the ecosystem, neighborhood watchman Kevin Stanford said he would still be paroling for mountain lions to make others feel safe.
‘I haven’t picked up any tracks yet to see what kind of direction it took off in or what direction in came in, so that’s kind of the puzzle to put together now,’ he told Fox 2. ‘Just keep your head on a swivel.’
Some neighbors, however, were excited about the recent wild encounter.
Ming Bong Lee said: ‘It’s pretty cool actually. I mean, it’s not just one, it’s two and they were fighting. So that’s not that common.’
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said there’s only been 16 verified accounts of mountain lion attacks on Californians since 1890, and six of them were fatal.
The department also estimated that there are between 4,000 to 6,000 mountain lions statewide.
Mountain lions usually leave humans alone, but the CDFW receives hundreds of calls a year about pets and livestock being killed by these creatures.
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