A mountain lion that was hit by a car has been released back into the wild after a two-month recovery journey in Ramona, the San Diego Humane Society said.
The animal was found with road rash wounds, a fractured jaw and a broken tooth in San Luis Obispo County in Central California and was taken to the humane society's Ramona Wildlife Center on March 4.
Vet teams worked to repair his jaw and even performed a root canal on his upper right canine, the humane society said.
After it was deemed safe to return him to the wild, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife dropped him back off in San Luis Obispo County on May 1. He was fitted with a GPS collar beforehand to monitor his progress.
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"It’s a remarkable sight to see this majestic animal return to his rightful place in the wild,” Andy Blue, campus director at San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center, said in a news release. “It truly takes a village to make it happen, from the state’s biologists to our veterinary team and tireless devotion of our wildlife rehab specialists. Every wild animal plays a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem, so we’re glad he’s back in his natural habitat.”
According to the humane society, one to two mountain lions, on average, are killed by cars on California's highways weekly.
