Greenwich Mountain Lion Reportedly Spotted Again: Police [Update]

Update at 10:15 p.m:

Greenwich Police have released this statement following two reported sightings of a mountain lion on John Street, near Audubon Greenwich on Sunday.

"We take these reports seriously and DEP will be working closely with Greenwich PD to investigate further and to monitor the situation there. We are not aware at this time, however, that these sightings are accompanied by any new or fresh evidence of the continued presence of a mt lion in Greenwich. Absent such evidence, we continue to believe the mt lion struck and killed in Milford Saturday was the same animal that had been seen last week in Greenwich."

Original story:

The publicly accessible trails at a 300-acre wildlife sanctuary in northwest Greenwich were closed Sunday following a reported sighting of a mountain lion on a private property that abuts it, officials say.

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and Greenwich police looked for signs of the mountain lion in the property following reports of a "large tan cat" in a John Street backyard, according to Lt. Kraig Gray, public information officer with the Greenwich Police Department.

"The cat was described by the family as a mountain lion," Gray said in a press release.

The John Street homeowner and "four other members of his family" claim to have seen it at approximately 11:30 a.m., Gray said. The property abuts Audubon Greenwich's 295 acres, he said. It's also located in roughly the same area of town where a mountain lion was .

If true, the sighting likely means the mountain lion before dawn Saturday is a different feline altogether.

Officials say no photos were taken this time of the animal, and that it had no contact with people or domestic animals.

The incident likely renews investigators' priority of of two legally permitted mountain lions in New York state, near the border of Greenwich.

A mountain lion last was spotted in Greenwich June 5, with DEP officials confirming the animal's species based on a blurry photograph (attached).

Though the Greenwich now has its own , the beast has eluded further — possibly until Sunday.

Until the report Sunday morning, the lion hadn't been seen in one week, and police hadn’t received any calls of the outside of the King Street area, Gray said.

Reports emerged last weekend of sightings of a mountain lion, and Greenwich Police on Wednesday released a photo taken of the elusive animal, taken June 5 on the King Street campus of .

Officials of the private all boys school placed the campus—which abuts the Westchester County Airport—off limits to activities and are allowing only faculty and staff on the bucolic acreage that is across the road from the and just up the road from the town-owned .