Mountain lion caught in San Francisco after 2 days in metropolis
After lurking around a neighborhood of San Francisco for two days and alerting some residents, a 2-year-old male mountain lion weighing 100 pounds was captured Wednesday night after retreating up a tree in Bernal Heights.
The puma couldn’t get out of the car discreetly – as it was in the middle of town, surrounded by curious neighbors and gawkers – and was shot by officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They took him to the Oakland Zoo, where he waited for a thorough physical exam that night.
Officials from the zoo, state, and the Bay Area Puma Project, a mountain lion research group, plan to relocate the apparently healthy and unharmed animal to a friendlier, unfamiliar environment on Thursday afternoon in Santa Clara County.
Bernal Heights is a residential neighborhood south of the San Francisco Missionary District, not a semi-wild suburb where mountain lions are common sightings in California. This was first reported in the neighborhood on Tuesday and had been seen a few days earlier in Pacifica – it was moving north along the peninsula.
How he got to Bernal Heights – away from any obvious wildlife corridor – is unclear. But Zara McDonald, director and biologist for the Puma Rescue Group, said mountain lions were visiting San Francisco and other urban areas more often than many people think.
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Mountain Lion captured alive after roaming the San Francisco neighborhood
A mountain lion captured in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bernal Heights on Wednesday can be seen at the Oakland Zoo on Thursday.
Male mountain lions in the Bay Area generally occupy approximately 100 square miles of territory. Since their natural habitat is restricted by human development and further restricted by fire and drought, they can venture beyond their typical range.
That cougar had been in town at least once, McDonald said. The Puma project had tied him up before.
She said lions have really good internal navigational compasses, “but once they’re in town it can get tricky.”
Such dense urban areas are stressful for them, she said. And in this case, the lion penetrated so deeply into the city, and was soon surrounded by well-meaning and curious onlookers, that it became almost impossible for him to get out on his own.
After two days it became clear that he needed help.
It was at this point that the Department of Fish and Wildlife stepped on the scene, department spokesman Ken Paglia said, adding that state agents had been ready for a few days to help the San Francisco Department of Animal Control, the first responders.
Early Thursday, the state brought the lion to the Oakland Zoo, where a team of vets and technicians got ready.
“We’re here for you around the clock,” said Nik Dehejia, the zoo’s manager, citing the zoo’s 17,000-square-foot veterinary clinic, which is ready to accept animals in emergency situations.
Dr. Alex Herman, the zoo’s vice president for veterinary services, said the mountain lion was “so pretty and so beautiful and so very healthy”.
She said she and her team did a thorough exam – checked teeth, eyes, ears, abdomen, heart, lungs, bladder, and testicles – and given him some vaccinations for diseases like feline leukemia and SIV, as well as anti-worming drugs and fleas and ticks.
Almost all wild animals have some parasites, she said, but because this lion has had some stressful days, eradicating these freeloaders would make his transition back to the wild easier.
Three groups – the Oakland Zoo, the state, local animal control, and the Puma Project – have come together for these rescues to help wild creatures survive.
“They no longer need to be shipped,” she said. Instead, they can be transported and shared.
Erin Harrison, the zoo’s vice president of marketing, said not all mountain lions sent to the zoo are released back into the wild. Last summer, Redding staff received a young male cub whose paws had been badly burned in a fire. They performed several operations on the young animal. Upon recovery, he was taken to the Columbus Zoo, where he now lives.
Called “Captain Cal” by the fire department that saved him, he was transported with two other orphans who were being looked after by the zoo at the time.
In addition to fire, human interference, and drought, mountain lions and other wild animals face threats when exposed to toxic chemicals, including rodenticides, McDonald said.
She cited a state report showing a high incidence of predators in California dying after eating rodents that have ingested anticoagulant poisons.
