Mountain Lion Tranquilized, Released After Evading Capture in San Francisco
Authorities spent hours tracking the animal through the city's Sunset District before successfully sedating and relocating it.
A mountain lion that had been evading capture for several hours in San Francisco was tranquilized and released back into the wild on Friday. The animal was spotted in the city's Outer Sunset neighborhood, leading to a multi-agency response.
Officials from the San Francisco Police Department, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, animal control, and the San Francisco Zoo worked together to surround and sedate the cougar. After being tranquilized, the mountain lion was placed in a crate and later released into a wooded area. Animal Care & Control shared videos of the release, noting that the animal appeared to be wearing a collar it did not have previously.
The organization expressed gratitude for the inter-agency collaboration, specifically thanking the San Francisco Zoo for their darting expertise, the San Francisco Police Department for their support, the Santa Cruz Puma Project, and their own Animal Control Officers.
This incident follows another mountain lion sighting in San Francisco's Panhandle neighborhood earlier this month, which subsequently returned to the woods on its own. It remains unclear if the mountain lion tranquilized on Friday was the same animal.