A young mountain lion shot by police died in surgery at a California zoo on Friday, a zoo spokesperson said, after the animal was startled by a tranquilizer dart and jumped at an officer in a suburban neighborhood.
Oakland Zoo veterinarians received the lion, estimated to be a year old, shortly before midday and prepared it for emergency surgery, said zoo spokesperson Erin Harrison.
A resident of Hollister, about 100 miles south of San Francisco, had spotted the lion on their front porch and called police at about 4:42 a.m., the Hollister Police Department said in statement.
Dr. Kimberly Carlson performs emergency surgery on a young male mountain lion, which officials say was shot by police earlier in the day in Hollister, Calif., at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 26, 2022. (Nathan Frandino/Reuters)
When California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers tried to tranquilize it, the lion ran out of a bush toward a police officer, officials said….