Lost mountain lion captured in San Francisco’s most urban neighborhood

A young mountain lion was captured in San Francisco’s Mission Bay—among the city’s most urban neighborhoods–Thursday morning, KCBS Radio reported.

Officers from S.F. Animal Care and Control and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife cornered the disoriented animal near Fourth and Channel streets and used a large net to seize it.

“They’ll be taking off to place it in the wild,” SFACC Executive Director Virginia Donohue told KCBS.

Donohue said the goal was to capture the animal without tranquilizing it because young cats can die in the sedating process.

The captured cat is the same animal as the one spotted wandering around the city in recent days.

Sightings were reported along the Embarcadero and at the intersection of Fremont and Market streets. Video footage of the mountain lion was taken at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning at Lombard and Leavenworth in Russian Hill.

“It’s highly unusual for a mountain lion to be in these areas because it’s quite young and very inexperienced,” said Deb Campbell, a spokesperson for SF Animal Care & Control. “Usually when families have litters, they disperse to find their own territory. This one probably went a little early and ended up here and doesn’t know how to get out.”

On Wednesday evening, there was a second sighting in the East Cut-Rincon Hill neighborhood near downtown.

Animal Care and Control posted a message on Twitter warning residents to use caution when outside after dark and before daybreak. “It’s likely the mountain lion is confused and lost, and will soon find its way south and out of San Francisco,” the message read. “If you see the mountain lion – do not go near it. Give it a wide berth, slowly back away while facing the lion, do not run!”

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Image Source:*sfgate.com

Source:sfgate.com