A young mountain lion was released back into the wild Friday after it was safely captured in San Francisco’s Sunset District.
The mountain lion in the morning was spotted in yards and on a street. Video also showed the mountain lion on 44th Avenue. Neighbors said the animal moved from one bush to another in front of homes and stayed there.
Police, animal control and other agencies responded. The street was blocked off and neighbors were told to stay back as officials worked to tranquilize the mountain lion.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the mountain lion was darted and ran off before the tranquilizer took effect.
Officials then performed a quick health assessment and determined the animal was a male between 2 and 3 years old and weighed roughly 78 pounds.
It was a morning that neighbors won’t soon forget.
“It ran right in front of our house, and then they tranquilized it, and we saw it run out into the street too,” San Francisco resident Alex Grant said.
“It was wild to see a mountain lion in a big city like this. It’s pretty incredible,” Grant added.
Another neighbor, Carson Ryan, said he came to the area after seeing the police response.
“I made my way over here at 10 o’clock. That’s when I saw all the police cars, caution tape, and I hung around and wanted to see what was really a mountain lion in the Outer Sunset, which it was,” Ryan said.
After the mountain lion was safely captured, Fish and Wildlife officials placed a tracking collar on it and returned it to the wild.
Officials said they are not sure where the mountain lion came from, but it could have traveled from the Peninsula, where there is habitat.
Zara McDonald with the Bay Area Puma Project talked about the recent mountain lion sightings in the Bay Area.