A family of mountain lions – possibly, or maybe they were just close friends – were caught on camera trotting along a hiking trail Monday morning at the Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park in California.
Whether they were actually a family or not, it’s very unusual to see such a large group of mountain lions. It’s actually fairly rare to spot a single mountain lion – it's estimated that there are about 4,500 mountain lions across the state of California, according to the UC Davis California Mountain Lion Project.
The video was shot by runner Davor Desancic, who spotted them where the Courdet Trail meets the Ridge Line Trail at around 6:15am. Desancic said he didn't hear the mountain lions – he just suddenly saw them, about 500 yards away.
Desancic told 7News that he thought the group looked like three young mountain lions and their mother.
Desancic didn’t feel any sense of threat, and another user of the trail interviewed by the local new station was similarly more fascinated that afraid:
“I just think that it is awesome that there is this kind of wildlife thriving in the Bay,” said a hiker called Danny. “They're usually not dangerous if you stay away from them.”
But not everybody was quite so laid back.
“If I’d been the one taking that video, I definitely would have been like, ‘Okay, that's a little scary there,” said a hiker called Camille. “I think it was kind of trippy because we just hiked that trail so kind of seeing where we had just been and then seeing the lions, that was kind of cool.”
Read our recommendations for what you should do if you meet a mountain lion while hiking.
- The best women’s gilets 2024: hiking vests and body warmers to keep your core snug
- The best hiking water bottles 2024: stay hydrated at camp and on the trails
