Mountain lion captured in west Las Vegas, released into foothills

A mountain lion at a west Las Vegas golf course was tranquilized early Thursday, then released into the Spring Mountain Range.

Doug Nielsen, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said the agency’s game wardens received a report of a mountain lion being chased by coyotes at a golf course near West Flamingo Road and the 215 Beltway around 9 a.m.

The 60-pound female was found 15 feet up in a tree after being reported across from Siena Golf Club, Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa said.

The lion was shot with a tranquilizer dart, tagged and moved to the foothills, where it was given medication to reverse the tranquilizer’s effects. Pappa said it ran off about 90 minutes later.

“Officials believe the mountain lion is the same one that has been reported in the area in recent weeks,” Pappa said.

The cat was recorded on video surveillance Tuesday night in a neighborhood farther north, adjacent to Red Rock Country Club.

Glenn Dulaine, who lives off Sahara Avenue, near Red Rock Country Club and the 215 Beltway, said he and his neighbor saw what they thought was a mountain lion on the golf course a couple of weeks ago in separate sightings. On Tuesday night, Dulaine said, he took his 55-pound border collie, Tuscan, for a walk around 11:15 p.m. When they returned home, he saw footage of the big cat on video from his home surveillance system.

“Went across the street and up my driveway,” Dulaine said of the cat’s actions. “It jumped up over the wall and went into the neighbor’s yard.”

Dulaine said he shared video of the cat to create awareness that a large predatory animal was in residential areas. He said he called the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Dulaine’s neighbor Christine Needham said that about 12 days ago she was walking on the golf course and saw what appeared to be a big cat roughly 20 feet away, in the vicinity of Cherry Creek Circle.

“I immediately knew what it was,” Needham said. “I could see the tail and the tan color. I couldn’t see his face, but the minute he heard me shuffling he took off.”

Needham said that experience, combined with the cat recorded on Dulaine’s video walking down the street where she lives, is “a little bit scary.”

The witnesses are just the latest in a series of such sightings in the far west valley. The Department of Wildlife said the mountain lion was spotted at least three times in the Summerlin area near West Flamingo Road and the 215 Beltway in early March. Those reports followed video of the mountain lion captured on another home security camera in the western valley a month earlier on the 9100 block of West Flamingo Road.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Sabrina Schnur contributed to this report.