Mountain lion paddles across Colorado reservoir and returns to wilderness, video shows

A mountain lion was spotted paddling across a Colorado reservoir before safely making it back into the wilderness.

Tommy Branson was boating over the weekend on the McPhee Reservoir in San Juan National Forest and saw a mountain lion padding across the water, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Branson filmed a video showing the large cat swimming and making it to shore.

“What a rare sight to see!” park officials wrote on Facebook. “A local resident was enjoying the weekend boating on McPhee Reservoir when he saw a mountain lion swimming across the lake. The mountain lion safely made it to shore and continued on his way. Who said cats don’t like water?”

Wildlife manager Matt Thorpe said mountain lions are “certainly ... not lovers of water,” but often cross rivers and creeks, according to The Journal.

“We were certainly surprised, being in the business,” Thorpe said. “Who knows what goes through the mind of a wild critter ... but certainly there was something to drive it to swim across a big lake.”

Officials estimate about 5,000 mountain lions live in Colorado, according to The Denver Post.