Videos capture the return of mountain lion named “Newport”

By Michele Gile

Click here for updates on this story

    California (KCAL) — Wildlife cameras have captured what appears to be the return of a mountain lion nicknamed “Newport,” that was caught on camera creating chaos in Orange County three years ago.

The big cat was spotted running through the parking lot of an Irvine shopping center, swimming in Lake Mission Viejo and sauntering through Newport Beach back in 2022.

Since then, he hasn’t really been spotted, at least not knowingly.

Now, years later, it appears that Newport has returned to Orange County, though the newest videos show him in a much more fitting habitat, as he explores the Santa Ana Mountains and the surrounding area.

He was officially sighted on May 7, where he briefly stops to rub his face on some branches before inspecting the camera.

“So Newport for some reason, his face seems to always be itchy,” said Mark Girardeau. “Every time he finds a stick where we have cameras, he just gets super into it and just itches himself and he just loves a good little massage.”

Girardeau and Rachel Devloud are wildlife photographers who purchased a series of cameras typically intended for hunters. They installed them, however, to monitor nature.

So far they’ve put up about 50 cameras, and once a week they hike along the Santa Ana Mountain trails to retrieve footage, which they then share on their Facebook group called “Orange County Outdoors.” They have clips of skunks, deer, opossums, foxes, raccoons and mountain lions, including Newport.

“Just a hobby, we do this for fun. Rachel and I just go out there and it’s very entertaining for us,” Girardeau said. “It’s also nice because we can educate the public about the mountain lions, because there’s so much fear about them.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.