Mountain lion spotted in San Francisco, officials working to capture it

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A young mountain lion spotted roaming the streets of San Francisco has been located near a park where wildlife officials are trying to capture it, authorities said Tuesday.

Authorities issued a warning to residents late Monday, saying a mountain lion had been seen walking the streets in the Pacific Heights neighborhood and advising people to slowly back away from the animal if they encountered it. They said Tuesday morning the wild feline had been located.

Animal Care and Control workers, San Francisco police officers and state wildlife officials were working in the area of Lafayette Park in Pacific Heights to capture the mountain lion safely, said Angela Yip, a spokesperson for Animal Care and Control.

Yip said there was no threat to the public but wouldn’t share the exact location of the animal, saying officials needed the public to stay away from the area.

The mountain lion was first spotted Monday morning by a San Francisco resident who took video of the animal and alerted authorities.

“It was so big … not just a regular cat,” Madrey Hilton told the San Francisco Chronicle. The lion, which “just looked like it was minding its own business,” scaled the wall and headed into Lafayette Park, she told the newspaper.

Mountain lion sightings are rare in San Francisco, where coyotes abound in the city’s many parks, but cougars have been spotted wandering city streets before.

In 2020, a young mountain lion was spotted sleeping in a planter box along a normally busy street and looking at his reflection in the glass of an office tower in downtown San Francisco. The animal was later safely captured and released into the wild.

Experts say the animals come up along the Pacific Coast from the hills south of the city, but eventually find their way back to the wilderness.