Pescadero, Calif. — A fast-thinking custodian safely confined a curious younger cougar in an empty classroom after it entered a Northern California highschool Wednesday morning, authorities mentioned.
The custodian was opening Pescadero Excessive for the college day when the juvenile mountain lion was noticed, mentioned Detective Javier Acosta with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Workplace. No college students or lecturers have been on campus on the time, Acosta mentioned.
"The mountain lion casually walked by way of campus and determined to enter an English classroom," he mentioned. "The custodian acted shortly and managed to close the door behind it."
Acosta mentioned the animal, estimated to be about 40 kilos, appeared "misplaced and scared."
The California Division of Fish and Wildlife tranquilized the cat and despatched it to the Oakland Zoo for examination.
Amy Wooliever, the La Honda-Pescadero Unified Faculty District superintendent, instructed CBS San Francisco they've had encounters with mountain lions earlier than, however not fairly like this.
"Now we have had events the place a mountain lion has walked by the elementary college alongside the ridge and such, so we're used to that out right here," she mentioned. However, having one in a classroom - I actually thought it was a senior prank at first as a result of it was the day earlier than college is out."
The underweight male was estimated to be 4 to six months previous and had a fractured tooth that may should be extracted earlier than the cat may be launched again into the wild, KTVU-TV reported.
Pescadero is a small coastal group about 35 miles south of San Francisco.