San Francisco residents captured footage of a mountain lion snooping about their front yard. Photo: San Francisco Standard//Instagram
Surfers in San Francisco had to keep an eye out while changing in and out of their wetsuits today. The city was put on high alert as a mountain lion was spotted Friday morning in the Outer Sunset neighborhood, just a few blocks from Ocean Beach.
In an alert, the city’s Department of Emergency Management said the sighting occurred at 44th Avenue and Ulloa Street. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, city animal care and control officials located and tranquilized the cougar around 10:30 a.m. in front of a home on 44th Avenue and carried it away to be relocated.
Earlier in the morning, the city had advised citizens to avoid the area, and slowly back away and not run if they saw it.
“If you have a child with you — pick them up — and keep dogs on leash,” the statement reads. “If the mountain lion approaches — make yourself ‘big’ wave your arms, shout, throw something, and again, do not run.”
Footage obtained by the San Francisco Standard shows the animal roaming front yards in the densely populated neighborhood. Reports indicated that the mountain lion and wildlife authorities were in a standoff while they decided how to proceed.
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Run-ins with cougars have become increasingly commonplace in San Francisco this year. Just two weeks ago, people spotted a mountain lion twice around Golden Gate Park. In January, wildlife authorities captured a mountain lion in the Pacific Heights neighborhood and released it. It’s unclear if these sightings were the same animal or different ones.
There are between 3,200 and 4,500 mountain lions in California, according to a 2024 study. The big cats inhabit the remote forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains, which stretch from Santa Cruz County north to Pacifica, explaining why the animals sometimes roam into the urban centers of the Bay Area.
