Early Friday morning as the sun was peeking over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a young mountain lion mountain was turned-away from Harrah’s Reno casino. Guests must be 21 years old to gamble and the cougar was only about two-years-old according to an old friend, Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesman Chris Healy.

Actually, the lion had trouble negotiating the revolving door at Harrah’s casino on Virginia Street plaza and wandered over to an outdoor stage where it crawled underneath for safety. Police and emergency workers cordoned off the area and waited for officers from the Department of Wildlife to arrive. When they did, the animal was tranquilized before being taken away to be checked for injuries. Afterward, the animal was fitted with a GPS necklace.

Early Saturday morning the young lion was driven to Spooner Summit at Lake Tahoe and released a few miles from Highway 50 where it will have plenty of wild game to chase and more water available.

If I’m not mistaken, this is the first lion in a Reno casino since the MGM had their signature lion downstairs available for photo shoots.

Thanks for reading – Al W Moe