PESCADERO, Calif. (KGO) – A mountain lion made an unexpected visit to a classroom at Pescadero High School on Wednesday morning.
The students were locked up and eventually released earlier while a plan was drawn up to safely remove the mountain lion from the classroom.
The area says it is not unheard of for a mountain lion to approach the campus, but never in a classroom.
The students and staff are safe, as is the mountain lion, who has been described by staff as a minor.
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The excitement came shortly before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, when students were due to begin their penultimate day of the school year.
“I’m entering the corridor, everyone’s crazy,” said student Myrol Hernandez. “I asked what was going on and they told me, ‘Just come into the classroom!’ Enter the classroom!
The head of the school district tells us that the mountain lion entered the school when the students arrived for the day.
“It was just before school,” said Amy Wolver, head of the La Honda-Pescadero Joint School District. “The door was left open when a student came out and then the cat came in.”
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The San Mateo County Sheriff says a quick-witted officer closed the door and managed to keep the mountain lion in an English classroom where he spent most of the day.
There were no students or staff in the classroom at the time.
Shortly after 3 p.m., the California Department of Fish and Wildlife managed to get the mountain lion out of the classroom.
“We used a soothing rifle for darts to inject a mixture of drugs into the animal through the arrow, and it went smoothly, without any problems,” said John Krause of Fish and Wildlife.
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Krause says the animal was skinny, but otherwise looked healthy.
He was taken to the Auckland Zoo for a full evaluation.
The unexpected visitor had a great impact on school activities, Thursday is the last day of school, and the finals were scheduled for Wednesday along with the completion of eighth grade.
The region is working to reschedule these activities.
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