Following a hefty dose of sedatives, the confused and lost young mountain lion roaming San Francisco was successfully caught this morning on California Street, around Pacific Heights.
San Francisco police, animal control, and even SF Zoo vehicles encircled Lafayette Park earlier this morning to contain a lost mountain lion after the big cat was spotted in and around the area over the weekend and into Monday evening. With the help of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the young cougar was successfully trapped and subsequently tranquilized.
Mountain Lion contained to Lafayette Park area near California St. SFPD, SFFD, Fish & Wildlife, SF Animal Care & Control, SF Zoo on scene. pic.twitter.com/aUcKR81Q9v
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) January 27, 2026
The “wayward” mountain lion was captured at 10:45 a.m. following a San Francisco safety alert that went out at 6:21 a.m., alerting residents that the big cat was spotted in the aforementioned park and barricaded in by animal control officers and other on-site officials. The hours-long standoff resulted in the big cat being trapped and tranquilized after it jumped into a nearby residential backyard, collapsing inside a small crawl space just off a fence line.
The wayward mountain lion who visited Pacific Heights has been captured safely. He was tranquilized after an hours-long standoff & will be released to a more suitable habitat. It was a coordinated effort of SFACC, The SFPD, SF Zoo, & CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife pic.twitter.com/zp7aPJfCAp
— SF Animal Care & Control (@SFACC) January 27, 2026
A crowd of passerby, nearby residents, reporters, and photographers swarmed the area outside the capture site, where CDFW officials could at one point be seen firing tranquilizer darts from a fire escape. The young male mountain lion was whisked away from the hectic area, swaddled in a bright orange tarp, before being placed inside a large metal cage en route to a recovery center; wildlife veterinarians will examine the animal’s health and, barring no major aligments, will be released in an appropriate area once he fully recovers from the sedative.
Per San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Mariano Elías, the juvenile mountain lion weighed in at about 77lbs — the poundage of an average adult German Shepard — and was behaving normally, albeit scared, prior to the tranquilizer kicking in, which took some time.
Roxanne Blank, whose series of videos and photos was posted on Reddit documenting the lost mountain lion exploring her apartment complex yesterday after being dropped off by a friend, told SFGate she initially thought the “giant nimal” was a dog. But a quick glimpse of its exceptionally long tail told her it was “something else.”
Once she realized it was a mountain lion, Blank called 911 to report the animal; she eventually managed to get into her apartment, where she was able to photograph the lost big cat exploring an outdoor space through her window.
It wasn’t until the sobering hours of the morning that she realized how big the cat actually was after finding claw marks — “that was a big kitty, and those claw marks are huge.”
The internet has collectively agreed that Blank’s name for the Cat, “Jumanji,” is sublime and needs no edits.
