Oakland zoo veterinarians perform surgery on a mountain lion that died. Photo: Oakland Zoo
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Zoo and the Hollister Police Department engaged in a battle of words over the death of a mountain lion in dueling Facebook posts.
The verbal scuffle was over a mountain lion that was rushed to the zoo after being shot Friday morning by Hollister police.
As the zoo tells it, someone spotted the big cat in a residential neighborhood about 5 a.m. California Department of Fish and Wildlife rangers were trying to dart the animal with a tranquilizer, but police fired a gun at it when officers said it lunged of them.
With a gunshot wound, the lion jumped over a neighboring fence in the 1400 block of Diablo Drive, and Fish and Wildlife was then able to tranquilize him, and bring him to the zoo's veterinary hospital for emergency surgery.
Despite efforts, the lion died.
"This is the 20th mountain lion to come to Oakland Zoo in need of help as another victim of human-wildlife conflict," the zoo wrote. "And we are heartbroken with the tragic loss."
In response, the Hollister Police Department took aim at the zoo for seeming to point fingers at them for the lion's death.
"Their choice of words is careless at best, and misleading at worst," police wrote. "It characterizes our actions as having been reckless and impatient and none of that is true. We regret that they have yet to retract, correct, and amend their statement. Words matter."
Police said that their officers "exhibited patience, care, and concern for the mountain lion and public, and followed the lead of the outstanding officers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife."
However, Hollister police also said that rangers tried to dart the animal twice with tranquilizers, but it didn't work.
"The mountain lion charged from the bush directly towards a police officer stationed in an effort to keep it contained," police wrote. "Fearing for the life and safety of the officer, two officers fired their rifles at the mountain lion."
Police said that the cat suffered at least one bullet wound to the abdomen.
Police also said that they thought that this was a "potentially life-threatening situation" for residents and that "ultimately," they felt they couldn't place the"life of the animal above human life, which is why the officers fired their rifles at the scene."
In a phone interview on Sunday, Hollister Police Sgt. Don Pershall said his department didn't like the zoo's post because he felt "their post was presented in a way that we were not doing everything we could to capture the animal safely."
Meanwhile, in response to questions from KTVU on Sunday, the Oakland Zoo said they understand Hollister police have issued "multiple statements around why shots were fired by their officers based on their account - and we respect that," but they never mentioned the department by name.
"As a zoo focused on wildlife conservation and education," the zoo stated. "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."
KTVU's Elissa Harrington contributed to this report.