A mountain lion sighting has been reported since last week and Wildlife experts were able to capture a puma in Diamond Heights area in San Francisco. The pictured is not related to the story. [Courtesy of Karen Arnold, Pixabay]
San Francisco, California - A wild mountain lion was seen multiple times roaming around the prestigious Presidio neighborhood in San Francisco, California. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff who lives in Sea Cliff posted the security camera footages of a mountain lion wandering around in his neighborhood.
A cougar was seen roaming around the prestigious Presidio area. [Courtesy of Marc Benioff / Twitter]
It is pretty common to have mountain lion sightings in Marin County and Peninsula where nature has been preserved. Also, there were multiple sightings reported in the City of San Mateo in the Peninsula region. However, it is pretty unusual for the large predator to be spotted in the bustling city like San Francisco.
The Fish and Wildlife spokesperson, Peter Tira, told SF Chronicle, a San Francisco-based news company, "We believe it's just one mountain lion at this point. We do find young male lions stumbling into developed areas. A lot of times, they are looking for a home range to call their own and they wander into places they aren't supposed to be."
Tira said the large feline may have found its way to Presidio area through wildland on the Peninsula or through the Golden Gate Bridge from Marin in the middle of the night. It has been studied that coyotes relocated through these paths.
Even experts wondered how this large predator could locate itself to San Francisco without being seen by humans though pumas are known for its stealthiness.
Another mountain lion sighting was reported on Friday in Diamond Heights area. California Department of Fish and Wildlife wardens, San Francisco police officers and animal control officers surrounded the sighting area. It was close to a park area where frequented by children, so the experts decided to tranquilize and relocate the mountain lion.
Fortunately, the puma was captured without an incident and was successfully transported to the Santa Cruz Puma Project facility. The 82-pound male feline was examined and fitted with a radio and GPS collar. It is getting ready to be released back into the wild.
The mountain lion will most likely be released into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area on the Peninsula.
It is unknown at this point if the captured puma is the same one as the feline sighted in the Presidio area.
Kwak, Min Jung = abiel@ajunews.com
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