A MOUNTAIN lion cub that was seen roaming the streets of downtown San Francisco before being captured last week may have killed several marsupials at the city zoo, officials said.

The 22-kilogram male cougar, believed to be less than 2 years old, was examined at the Oakland Zoo before California Fish and Wildlife officials released it at a wilderness preserve.

But on Friday, the San Francisco Zoo revealed that three marsupials were found dead earlier in the week at their outdoor enclosures.

In a statement to KTVU, the zoo said findings suggest the deaths of two wallaroos and a red kangaroo were due to a local wild carnivore.

“With the unusual sighting and capture of a young mountain lion in San Francisco this week, the zoo is investigating whether this could be the perpetrator,” the zoo said.

Officials said after the incident that they “immediately” took steps to protect other animals.

The young cat roamed the streets of San Francisco for two days, appearing disoriented.

Video from KGO-TV showed the cat walking through the station’s parking lot on the morning of June 16.

The mountain lion was eventually caught after it was spotted near Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Deb Campbell said that officials get reports of cougars roaming in San Francisco about once a year. The animals come up along the Pacific Coast from the hills south of the city but eventually find their way back to the wild.

“We never had a mountain lion right in the middle of downtown San Francisco,” Campbell said.

The cat was released to an open preserve, but state wildlife officials said Saturday they did not hear about the killings at the zoo before the animal was released.

“Whether or not he still would have been released, I don’t know that answer. If we would have known, of course, that would have been a huge part of the decision-making process,” said Ken Paglia, a spokesperson for California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.

(SD-Agencies)