San Francisco, California - Shortly after police warned residents in southern San Francisco to take caution after an alleged mountain lion sighting, the officers walked back on their alert after the wild truth came to light. It was just a really big cat!

As the South San Francisco Police Department announced on their Facebook page, a local resident had initially reported seeing a mountain lion in the area.

Police officers conducted a search but were unable to spot any such feline predator.

The officers then published a screenshot from the resident's surveillance footage on social media, together with a warning about the "mountain lion."

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However, the warning failed to alarm most users, as many were already certain in the comments: the furry animal is just a domestic cat!

"We were able to confirm the Big Cat was not a mountain lion," law enforcement officers wrote in an update to the post. "We are happy to report there is no potential threat for the neighborhood. That's a BIG cat!"

The officers still encouraged residents to read through their advice for handling an encounter with a mountain lion – though the matter is much less urgent now.