Mountain lion found in downtown San Francisco

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A young mountain lion has been found roaming the streets of downtown San Francisco.

The disoriented cat was spotted sleeping in a plant bed and gazing at his reflection in the glass of an office tower in his two days in the city before he was spotted by a police officer near the San Francisco Giants' baseball grounds.

Officers quickly established a perimeter, and animal control officials were able to capture the 22kg lion in an apartment building's shrubbery-rich garden, without the use of sedatives.

“In 24 hours, it only moved a few blocks. The poor guy really needed some help,” Animal Care and Control spokesperson Deb Campbell said. “We never had a mountain lion right in the middle of downtown San Francisco.”

Ms Campbell said officials in San Francisco receive reports of cougars in San Francisco about once a year. The animals come up along the Pacific Coast from the hills south of the city but eventually find their way back to the wilderness.

A motorist first reported seeing the young cat on Tuesday in the Russian Hill neighbourhood, with surveillance cameras picking it up hours later a mile east in the Embarcadero, at the waterfront. Soon after, it was spotted again in an area of gleaming office towers.

“It was looking in windows, looking at his reflection or something. Maybe he thought it was his mum or brother or sister,” Ms Campbell said.

Officials worried the animal would not find its way south and asked residents in the area to send in any photos or video of the cat so they could monitor its movements, urging people to stay vigilant.

“It is likely the mountain lion is confused and lost, and will soon find its way south and out of the city,” San Francisco Police tweeted on Wednesday. “If approached by the mountain lion, make yourself appear big and shout.”

Mountain lions leave their families after they are two years old. But this lion is younger than that, and it is unclear what led him to leave its family, Ms Campbell said.

The big cat was examined at the Oakland Zoo before California Fish and Wildlife officials released it at a wilderness preserve.

Additional reporting by AP