Bobcat back in wild after being hit by California police car

A bobcat struck by a police car on a canyon road earlier this year has been released back into the wild in Southern California.

The Orange County Register reports the one-year-old bobcat darted from his kennel, paused for a moment, and then disappeared down into a canyon at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park on Saturday.

The veterinarian who treated the cat for head trauma, Dr. Scott Weldy tells the newspaper the release was "almost anti-climactic" because the animal was gone in a flash.

Weldy says he fed the cat a final meal of chicken parts before taking the animal to the wilderness park, near where it was struck.

A Laguna Beach police officer said he initially thought he'd hit someone's pet when the cat darted in front of his vehicle Feb. 19.