Mountain lion captured near Bay Area homes gets released into wild

Authorities say a mountain lion spotted three times in a residential area south of San Francisco has been captured and released back into the wild.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN MATEO — Authorities say a mountain lion spotted three times in a residential area south of San Francisco has been captured and released back into the wild.

Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said Tuesday that the animal was safely sedated and then freed at 10:30 p.m. Monday.

San Mateo police say officers and wildlife officials found the big cat in a tree in a residential backyard Monday evening.

They hit the 60- to 80-pound mountain lion with a tranquilizer dart, and it ran into some bushes, where three officers picked it up and put it in a pickup truck.

Police say the first sighting of the cat came in before dawn. Later Monday, a responding officer spotted it walking toward the back of an apartment building.

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