Mountain lion tranquilized in San Francisco, released back into Santa Cruz Mountains

By Ryan Curry

Click here for updates on this story

    SAN FRANCISCO (KSBW) — Officials from San Francisco Animal Control and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife tranquilized a mountain lion Tuesday that was seen roaming around the city.

Residents in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood first spotted the animal dubbed 157M Monday afternoon around Lafayette Park.

Officials were able to corner the animal in a grassy area between two apartment complexes. They shot three darts to tranquilize the animal and later transported it out of the area for treatment.

“What I’ve been told by the Department of Fish and Wildlife is this is normal for a male to leave his mother and go claim his own territory,” said Mariano Elias, with the San Francisco Fire Department. “Unfortunately, sometimes it does happen in and around city life, and that is where we are today.”

The animal had already been tagged by a group called the Puma Project. They determined the male mountain lion to be around 2 years old, and they tagged him all the way down in Saratoga.

“We had a biologist who was in charge of the whole operation, so it worked out well seamlessly,” Elias said. “Clogged a little bit of traffic at one point, but in the end it was for everyone’s safety.”

Officials later said they released the animal back into the wild in the Santa Cruz mountains where he was born, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Wildlife officials said he was in great health.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

The post Mountain lion tranquilized in San Francisco, released back into Santa Cruz Mountains appeared first on News Channel 3-12.