A little mountain lion cub was clearly lost when it accidentally wandered into a California high school on Wednesday. A custodian on campus was able to trap it in a classroom and it was safely removed hours later.
The custodian at Pescadero High School in San Mateo County was getting ready to open the campus to students at around 8:30 a.m. when the cub was discovered, a San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson shared.
The cub is around 6 to 8 months old and is likely an orphan, according to the Oakland Zoo, which is now caring for the animal. The cub had to be tranquilized for capture and transport prior to its removal.
“No students or staff were ever in danger as the school was not in session yet,” the spokesperson said.
Pescadero is a small community near the coast around 30 miles west of San Jose, CA.
The custodian, prior to calling the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, attempted to “let [the cub] out on its own,” but the mountain lion did not leave because it was likely “lost and scared,” said the sheriff’s spokesperson.
Students and staff were given the day off as a precaution.
The plans for the cub are to send it to a zoo, as its too young to survive alone. Mountain lions usually spend their first two years learning from their mothers. No other reports of mountain lions have been made in the area. The cub, while a little underweight, is healthy. It was found under a teacher’s desk and was calm when approached.