Mountain lion roaming S.F. captured near Oracle Park
A mountain lion that roamed the streets of San Francisco for two days was captured Thursday morning near Oracle Park by animal control and police, authorities said.
An officer patrolling the 100 block of Channel Street around 5:22 a.m. saw the mountain lion and realized it was “the cat we’ve been looking for,” said Officer Adam Lobsinger, a San Francisco police spokesman.
The officer reported the cat, and officials set up a perimeter to make sure it didn’t get away. Around 6:30 a.m., police and animal control officials contained the mountain lion. No injuries were reported in connection to the cat, Lobsinger said.
It was not immediately clear where the lion was being taken.
Helicopter footage aired by a news station Thursday morning showed officials placing the cat inside a crate on the bed of a black truck.
The search for the wild cat had been going on since Tuesday, when the animal was spotted in the Russian Hill neighborhood and near the Embarcadero.
San Francisco police sent out a Twitter alert Wednesday night saying the cat had been seen around 7:20 p.m. near Rincon Hill.
“It is likely the mountain lion is confused and lost, and will soon find its way south and out of the city,” police officials said in a tweet. “If approached by the mountain lion make yourself appear big and shout. Remain vigilant and use caution outdoors.”
San Francisco Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Deb Campbell said that based on the images, the cat seemed to be “really young, dumb and lost.”