Overview
- Wildlife teams from CDFW, San Francisco Animal Care and Control, the San Francisco Zoo, police and fire departments coordinated a roughly 30-hour operation to capture the cat in Pacific Heights.
- Officers cornered and tranquilized the 77-pound animal between homes near California and Octavia streets on Jan. 27 before transporting him for evaluation.
- CDFW says he was released early Wednesday into suitable habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a range spanning more than 1,000 square miles, after being fitted with a new GPS collar.
- The lion, known as 157M, was originally tagged as a kitten near Rancho San Antonio; his first collar later fell off, and he was seen in a Saratoga backyard in September.
- Officials say urban sightings in San Francisco are rare and urge residents to scare lions away without approaching, keep children and pets close, back away slowly and report encounters through CDFW’s Wildlife Incident Reporting System.