Mountain lion captured in San Francisco after 2 days in city – Los Angeles Times
After lurking through a San Francisco neighborhood as well as alarming some citizens for 2 days, a 2-year-old, 100-pound male mountain lion was captured Wednesday night after pulling away up a tree in Bernal Heights.
Incapable to make a very discreet exit– as he was smack-dab in the middle of the city, surrounded by interested neighbors and also gawkers– the cougar was darted by police officers from California’s Department of Fish as well as Wildlife. They hauled him over to the Oakland Zoo, where he invested the night waiting for a complete physical examination.
Officials from the zoo, the state and the Bay Area Puma Project, a hill lion research study group, strategy to release the evidently healthy and balanced as well as unhurt animal into a friendlier, unrevealed environment Thursday afternoon in Santa Clara County.
Bernal Heights is a domestic area south of San Francisco’s Mission District, not the sort of semi-wild suburb where mountain lions in California often are seen. This one was first reported in the neighborhood on Tuesday as well as had been seen a couple of days earlier in Pacifica– moving north along the peninsula.
Ad How he reached Bernal Heights– away from any apparent wildlife hallway– is unclear. Zara McDonald, director and biologist for the puma rescue group, claimed mountain lions go to San Francisco as well as various other metropolitan areas extra frequently than many people believe.
× VIDEO|00:29 Mountain lion captured alive after prowling San Francisco area
A hill lion recorded Wednesday in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bernal Heights is seen Thursday at the Oakland Zoo.
Bay Area male mountain lions typically call for concerning 100 square miles of area. As their natural habitat is squeezed by human growth as well as further restricted by fires and also drought, they can venture past their regular realm.
This cougar had been in the city at the very least when in the past, McDonald claimed. The Puma Project had actually captured him formerly.
She claimed lions have truly good internal navigational compasses, “but as soon as they obtain in the city, it can end up being challenging.”
Such dense urban locations are difficult for them, she said. And in this instance, the lion obtained so deep right into the city, and also was soon bordered by well-meaning as well as interested sightseers, that it ended up being virtually impossible for him to go out on his very own.
After two days, it came to be clear he required help.
That’s when the Department of Fish as well as Wildlife entered the scene, said division spokesman Ken Paglia, including that state representatives had actually awaited a number of days to help out San Francisco’s department of animal control, the first -responders.
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Early Thursday, the state took the lion to the Oakland Zoo, where a group of vets and specialists prepped themselves.
“We’re always on phone call, 24/7,” said Nik Dehejia, the zoo’s president, citing the zoo’s 17,000-square-foot pet medical facility, which he stated is all set to take animals in emergency circumstances.
Dr. Alex Herman, the zoo’s vice president of vet solutions, stated the mountain lion was “so stunning and so good-looking and so really healthy and balanced.”
Advertisement She said she and also her group carried out a complete assessment– inspecting his teeth, eyes, ear, tummy, heart, lungs, bladder and also testicles– as well as offered him with some vaccinations for illness such as feline leukemia and SIV, along with medicines for deworming as well as ticks as well as fleas.
Nearly all wild animals have some parasites, she said, but because this lion had had a couple of stressful days, she said, eradicating those freeloaders would certainly relieve his shift back to the wild.
3 groups– the Oakland Zoo, state, regional pet control, and also the Puma Project– have come with each other for these rescues, she noted, aiding wild creatures survive.
“They don’t need to be sent off any longer,” she claimed. Instead, they can be transported and launched.
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Erin Harrison, the zoo’s vice president of marketing, stated that not all the mountain lions sent out to the zoo are released back right into the wild. They did several surgical procedures on the young animal.
Called “Captain Cal” by the fire team that saved him, he was delivered with two various other orphan cubs that the zoo was caring for at the time.
In enhancement to fires, human advancement and dry spell, mountain lions as well as various other wild animals face risks from direct exposure to toxic chemicals, consisting of rodenticides, McDonald said.
She pointed out a state report revealing a high occurrence of predators in California passing away after eating rats that have actually ingested anticoagulant toxins.