SAN FRANCISCO—The California Department of Fish and Wildlife captured a mountain lion that has been in the Bernal and Portola area on Wednesday, May 19 at approximately 10:30 p.m. The mountain lion was captured alive and taken to the Oakland Zoo for a health examination.
The animal was found in a tree on Santa Marina Street near Mission on account of a tip, the San Francisco Animal Care said in a Twitter post. Animal Control officers monitored the scene until CDFW came to dart and remove the mountain lion.
Oakland Zoo took the 2-year-old male around 1 a.m. on Thursday, May 20 for a health examination. After receiving a full examination and vaccine updates, he was sent with a clean bill of health to be released in a safe place in Santa Barbara County, said Oakland Zoo in a Twitter post.
“We’re proud to be a part of Bay Area Cougar Action Team (BACAT) that works together to ensure the safe future of mountain lions in the Bay Area,” said the Oakland Zoo via Twitter.
This is the 15th rescued mountain lion the Oakland Zoo has treated in the last three years. The mountain lion had been previously collared by the Santa Cruz Puma Department which is a UCSC mountain lion habitat fragmentation. It is a partnership between the UCSC and the CDFW, according to the Santa Cruz Puma Department Twitter page.
“If you encounter the lion, make yourself ‘big’, pick up small children, face the lion, back away slowly, and do not run,” stated the SFACC in a post on Twitter.
The SFACC said to call Animal Control and Emergency Dispatch at (415) 554-9400 if a mountain lion is seen.
