Mountain lion cub found at Pescadero High School recovering at Oakland Zoo

OAKLAND – A mountain lion that was found in an empty classroom on the San Mateo County coast Wednesday morning is being held at the Oakland Zoo as it recovers, zoo officials said.

The young puma, which is believed to be 6-8 months old, wandered into a classroom at Pescadero High School in the small town of Pescadero shortly before classes were scheduled to begin. According to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, a quick-thinking custodian shut the door on the cat, keeping it contained.

After several hours, California Fish and Wildlife personnel were able to safely remove the cub from the classroom.

“We used a dart tranquilizer rifle to put a drug mix into the animal through the dart. It went down smoothly. No problems,” said John Krause, Sr. Wildlife Biologist for the Bay Delta Region.

The mountain lion was taken to the Oakland Zoo, which posted video of the animal arriving and undergoing an examination at the zoo’s veterinary hospital.

Zoo officials said the cat had a “badly fractured” tooth that needs to be extracted. The mountain lion was also found to be too young to survive on its own in the wild.

“He will be placed at an accredited zoo, under the discretion of Oakland Zoo and California Fish & Wildlife. Until then, we will take care of him here,” the zoo said.

Amy Wooliever, the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District superintendent, told KPIX 5 on Wednesday that they’ve had encounters with mountain lions before, but not quite like this.

“We have had occasions where a mountain lion has walked by the elementary school along the ridge and such, so we are used to that out here,” Wooliever said. “But, having one in a classroom – I honestly thought it was a senior prank at first because it’s the day before school is out.”