While the thought of encountering a wild animal in a classroom is pretty scary, a law enforcement agency in California assured that all parties were safe in a tongue-in-cheek manner and the witty post about a mountain lion’s rescue from a high school is winning the internet.
A mountain lion made an unexpected visit to a classroom at Pescadero High School Wednesday morning. The wild cat was discovered by the high school staff in the early hours as they were about to open.
As the staff informed the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office (SMCSO), they rushed to the spot to provide assistance and took to Twitter to inform, “ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF ARE SAFE at Pescadero High School.” They also added that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) had been notified about the “safe and humane removal” of the animal.
However, it was SMCSO’s post with witty wordplay about the incident that left netizens in splits online. Taking to Instagram while providing an update, the admin tried to guess why the lion entered the school in the first place. “Word is that the mountain lion who entered the English classroom at Pescadero High School this meowrning was there to a-paw-logize and paw-sibly ask for a paw-don to turn in its hiss-tory pay-purr a day late,” SMCSO’s post read.
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PremiumMeanwhile, NBC Bay Area reporter Stephanie Magallon shared several pictures of the cougar curling underneath the desk on Twitter and images gained sympathy for the scared cub.
SMCSO in another post added a “swift-acting custodian” took the opportunity to shut the door on the curious lion, keeping it contained in the English classroom. No injuries were reported, and students and staff were sent home for the day in the interest of public safety, according to the sheriff’s office.
Here’s a better picture of the #mountainlion inside an English classroom at #Pescadero HS.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responding. @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/kjTajLpGfP
— Stephanie Magallon (@MagallonNews) June 1, 2022
In a final update, a few hours later, the sheriff’s office informed that the animal was safely removed by the wildlife department from the school premises. “It is believed to be a male approximately 4-6 months old. It will be transported to Oakland Zoo for a health assessment,” the Facebook post read.
They also reminded parents to use this incident to remind their children that “we live in a mountain lion habitat” and provided a detailed list of rules to follow in case of a chance encounter.
UPDATE: Wildlife officials are working on a plan to safely remove a mountain lion currently contained inside a classroom at Pescadero High School in San Mateo County. There is no immediate threat, the sheriff’s office said. https://t.co/wwwUuRaMOo pic.twitter.com/J7ivo5B1gx
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) June 1, 2022
According to ABC News, the school district authorities said that while it is not unheard of a mountain lion to come close to a campus “but never inside a classroom”.
“We used a dart tranquillizer rifle to put a drug mix into the animal through the dart and it went down smoothly, no problems,” a staff of the wildlife department told ABC News.
We just received another rescued mountain lion. This 6-8 month old male was discovered at Pescadero High School. (Students and staff were safe and had been dismissed from school at the time).
(thread) pic.twitter.com/fo5ZSXO0HT
— Oakland Zoo (@oakzoo) June 2, 2022
Like Rose, this mountain lion is sadly too young to be able to survive on his 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.
— Oakland Zoo (@oakzoo) June 2, 2022
Talking to CBS News, Amy Wooliever, the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District superintendent, explained how the uninvited guest interrupted school day, from final exam to promotion ceremony. “We have postponed our promotion ceremony for our 8th-grade students that was planned for tonight. We’re moving it to tomorrow night just before our high school graduation,” she said.
As images of the animal spread on social media, netizens were just glad everyone, including the animal was safe, and thanked the sheriff’s office for their candour.
