Firefighters saving a cat from a tree is a bit of a cliché — but what happens when the cat in question is a full-size cougar?

Victoria firefighters had to pull a cougar out of a tree Friday afternoon after the animal found itself deep in the city's Gorge-Burnside neighbourhood.

Victoria police said earlier in the day that the cougar was spotted on Gorge Road East, near Gorge Road Hospital, a long-term residential care facility.

Conservation officers and police tracked the animal with the help of dogs and chased it up a tree, said Conservation Officer Scott Norris. Then, they shot it with a tranquilizer dart.

The cougar went down for a super-sized cat nap and then it was up to fire crews to get the big kitty down.

Watch as firefighters gingerly pull down the cougar:

This rescue was the (big) cat's meow. 0:24

"A good news story at the end of the day. It's in good condition," Norris said.

"I think it's just a younger cat looking for territory. It's afraid of people. It's just looking to get somewhere safe."

Norris said the cougar, a male, is likely one that had been seen in the Victoria area several times since Wednesday.

Vancouver Island COS ear tagging a captured young cougar on the Gorge in Victoria. Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/vicpdcanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@vicpdcanada</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/VictoriaFire730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VictoriaFire730</a> and VicAnimal Control for the combined work. Cougar was in good health and will be relocated back to the wilderness. <a href="https://t.co/Iar9YTkPik">pic.twitter.com/Iar9YTkPik</a> —@_BCCOS

Norris said the plan is to release the cougar in the wilderness but declined to say exactly where.

"Let's just say a long way from Victoria."