Hollister police defend fatal shooting of mountain lion after criticism
HOLLISTER -- The Hollister Police Department is calling out the Oakland Zoo and defending how officers responded to a wayward mountain lion.
Early Friday morning, Hollister police responded to a neighborhood on the 1400 block of Diablo Drive where a mountain lion was hiding in the bushes near two schools. Fish and Wildlife officers tried to hit the lion with tranquilizer darts twice but missed.
When the big cat suddenly charged out of a bush toward officers, two of them opened fire with rifles, hitting the mountain lion at least once. Fish and Wildlife brought the injured male lion to the Oakland Zoo for emergency surgery, but it did not survive.
This morning, a young male mountain lion in critical condition was brought to the Zoo by @CaliforniaDFW. The lion had been spotted in a residential neighborhood of San Benito County, and while trying to safely capture him, he was shot by local PD. pic.twitter.com/h9vvtaw4yQ
— Oakland Zoo (@oakzoo) August 27, 2022
Afterwards, the Oakland Zoo posted video on Twitter and Facebook, noting that the mountain lion was shot by local police while fish and wildlife were trying to dart him with a tranquilizer.
The Hollister police department responded, calling the zoo's post "careless and misleading." The department said it mischaracterized the officers' actions as reckless and impatient, which was not true.
The department went on to say "Our officers exhibited patience, care, and concern for the mountain lion and public."
A number of people on social media also were critical of the officers' actions. On Sunday, the Oakland Zoo released the following statement in response:
"Our posting stated the facts as reported to us by our partners at CDFW; CDFW was attempting to dart the lion and the lion was shot by local PD during the joint effort. Hollister PD was not named by us, nor judged by us, and we understand HPD has since issued multiple statements around why shots were fired by their officers based on their account - and we respect that. As a zoo focused on wildlife conservation and education, our message and focus in sharing news of this tragedy was to educate the public about the growing issues around human-wildlife conflict, and nothing more."