A camper in Malibu came extremely close to a mountain lion that was seen casually walking by him on video.
The man, who was looking down at his phone while on his bike when the mountain lion walked by, didn’t react until after the fact.
This happened at Leo Carrillo State Park, a popular camping area for families.
The man in the video says he was worried about what the mountain lion would do if he or she came across the children in the area.
In the video, the man is seen looking down on his phone as the large animal walks calmly by him. He looks up from his phone and the mountain lion appears to notice the man as well and runs away.
The camper says he was in that area because he went to the ranger station to get cell service when the encounter happened.
“I wasn’t really nervous because it wasn’t that aggressive or anything, but the kids that we had at the campground kind of made me nervous because it did run off towards the direction of the kids,” the man said.
In case you ever encounter a mountain lion, the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife suggests staying calm, facing the animal and making loud noises.
Don’t crouch or bend over, but try to make yourself look bigger. And if you have a small child with you, put them on your shoulders just in case.
The state says mountain lions won’t usually hurt humans and actually try to avoid them all together.Since 1890, over the past 135 years, there have been less than 50 verified mountain lion attacks on humans and only six of those were deadly.