Hikers spot mountain lions in Berkeley
UC police are advising hikers to be careful after multiple sightings of a mountain lion and her cubs near the Greek Theater.
UC police are advising hikers to be careful after multiple sightings of a mountain lion and her cubs near the Greek Theater.
Hikers aren’t the only ones enjoying the open space near UC Berkeley lately.
UC police recently warned visitors to be aware when traipsing around in the Berkeley hills, as it seems there is a mama mountain lion and her cubs living near the Greek Theater:
“In the past few weeks there have been several sightings of a mountain lion and her cubs near the Switching Station No. 6 construction site on the western side of Stern Hall.”
The last mountain lion sighting was Thursday. Stern Hall is located on Gayley Road, right by the theater.
Lots of similar sightings were reported near the campus last year as well. Hikers often found deer carcasses as further proof lions were hanging around.
Officers had to shoot an offending lion two years ago after it made its way into the parking lot of the former Elephant Pharmacy.
If you encounter a mountain lion, don’t freeze up. Fighting back is actually a good thing to do, and many have escaped a brush with death by using sticks, stones and even bare hands, Davey-Crockett style.
But to keep yourself from getting into that situation in the first place, here are some helpful pointers:
And if you do stumble across a mountain lion:
More people are using Oakland’s SeeClickFix website and mobile app to report nuisance problems. Some are even seeing results.