SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Animal Care and Control officers on Friday morning tranquilized and captured a mountain lion that had made its way into the city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood.
The puma was spotted near 44th Avenue and Ulloa Street by neighborhood residents earlier Wednesday morning.
Officials gathered at the scene, leading to an hours-long standoff as they tried to tranquilize the animal. The lion was briefly spotted at the intersection before fleeing into some nearby bushes, which led to more waiting.
About 30 minutes later, officials had tranquilized the cougar.
It’s unclear if this is the same mountain lion that was spotted near the Golden Gate Park panhandle earlier this month.
Neighbors say
Local perspective:
Residents were told to remain in their homes during the ordeal.
"We woke up at like 7:30, there were like 50 crows on the power line, crowing and making a huge ruckus," Alex Grant told KTVU. "Then the cops showed up, and we learned it was hiding behind (a bush). It ran right in front of our house, then they tranquilized it, and we saw it run into the street too."
Expert opinion
What they're saying:
John Morgan of the Santa Cruz-based Puma Project, which studies mountain lions in the Santa Cruz mountains, said the animal was a juvenile male seeking to establish its own territory.
"This was a young male, which is pretty typical. That tends to be the type of individual that tends to get into trouble in cities," Morgan said. "A lot of times they’re looking for home ranges. At about one-and-a-half, two years of age, they disperse from their mom. This is likely a dispersing male that’s looking for a territory."
The Source: Information for this story was gathered at the scene by KTVU reporter Christien Kafton