On September 2, U.S. Forest Service firefighters spotted a mountain lion cub that was “semiconscious, extremely emaciated, dehydrated, weak and had tremors” near Idyllwild, California.
They brought the female cub to one of the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife’s campuses for care.
After several weeks of specialized care, the mountain lion cub’s health has improved immensely.
When the cub was brought to Project Wildlife, a wildlife rehabilitation organization within the San Diego Humane Society, she weighed only 10.5 pounds.
Due to her condition, the 14-week-old cub needed constant care. But with daily fluid therapy, medication, and five small meals per day, she made remarkable progress.
Within a few weeks she doubled her size and now weighs 22 pounds.
“With each passing day, she becomes more active and responsive and, though she still has some medical issues to overcome from being in such a fragile state, we are delighted she has responded well to our treatment and are hopeful she will make a full recovery,” Christine Barton, the director of Operations & Wildlife Rehabilitation at the Humane Society’s Ramona campus said.
Since the orphaned cub was discovered before she would have naturally separated from her mother, mountain lion cubs usually separate between 12 and 18 months, Project Wildlife is working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to make sure she finds a home at a qualified wildlife facility.
I’m so happy to see this little mountain lion cub is recovering. While it makes me sad that she was separated from her mother, I’m glad she was rescued and saved from what could have been an uncertain fate in the wild.
Share this to thank all of her rescuers!
