New Mountain Lion Sighting at Yerba Buena

For the third time this school year, a mountain lion has been spotted in the vicinity of , according to parents and school officials. The animal reportedly was seen on Thursday afternoon.

Principal Christina Desiderio was notified when a parent, picking up her child, spotted the animal on the hillside near the school's fence.

Desiderio said she contacted the , the Department of Fish & Game as well as alerted parents via an all-call. Here's the message she sent out:

Good afternoon Yerba Buena families, this is Christina Desiderio. There has been another mountain lion sighting close to our school. I have called our local sheriff department as well as Fish and Game. Representatives from both departments will be coming out to assess the situation. I am asking you to please come and pick up your child after school today rather than have them walk home. We will keep your child on campus until you are able to get here. Thank you for your cooperation.

"We were alerted at 12:41 p.m. and two units responded," said Lt. Todd Weber of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station. "There wasn't any further sightings when they got there."

Officers stood by at dismissal and plan to be there again on Friday afternoon as a precaution, Weber said.

Parent Stacey Lowen wrote in an email to Patch that she was concerned because "This was different from past notifications. In the past, parents were advised to instruct children to walk in groups and information was given on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion."

"There's really nothing we can do," Warden Corey Collins of Fish and Game . "Not unless the animal poses some sort of threat, which it didn't. We can't come and hunt it out."

According to Collins, it is civilization that is impeding upon the wildlife territory, and Yerba Buena is located near a creek, a natural habitat for mountain lions to hunt and drink.

"The lion was simply looking for food, water and shelter," said Collins.
"We were told that the animal was seen moving from one open space to another, back into the wilderness, which is what it's supposed to do."

Collins said he does not think that mountain lions pose a threat to the children at the school.

"Humans are not their primary food ... and if anything, they tend to shy away from people, which is why we don't often spot them."