Overview
- A mountain lion was seen near 44th Avenue and Ulloa Street and was captured after an hours-long standoff with animal control and wildlife crews on Friday.
- San Francisco Animal Care and Control and zoo staff tranquilized the cat, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife veterinarians examined it before release.
- Veterinarians estimated the animal was a roughly 2- to 3-year-old male, gave it a clean bill of health, fitted it with a GPS satellite collar, and returned it to wild habitat the same day.
- Officials said there is no ongoing public threat but asked residents to follow safety guidance—slowly back away, keep children and pets close, leash dogs, and report sightings to animal control.
- The collaring adds the animal to the Santa Cruz Puma Project database to track movements of young dispersing pumas that sometimes wander from the Santa Cruz Mountains into urban edges, and it remains unclear whether this sighting is the same cat seen in the Panhandle earlier this month.