SAN FRANCISCO — This isn’t your typical stray cat.
Wildlife officials in California said a young mountain lion is headed back to the wild after he was spotted wandering the streets of San Francisco’s Bernal Heights and Portola neighborhoods earlier this week.
According to KGO and KPIX, California Fish and Wildlife officers responded to Santa Maria Street late Wednesday after the cougar climbed up a tree. After authorities struck the large cat with a tranquilizer, it climbed down and fell asleep on the front porch of a home, the news outlets reported.
Crews took the mountain lion, which was wearing a tracking collar, to the Oakland Zoo, where veterinarians examined and vaccinated him, according to the news outlets. Officials determined that the 2-year-old, healthy male had come from the Santa Cruz Mountains, KGO reported.
The zoo tweeted that Fish and Wildlife officials will release the puma “in a safe space in Santa Clara County.”