Three orphaned mountain lion cubs have been rescued in San Diego, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said on Wednesday.
The rescue was a team effort by the Wildlife Alliance, the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Together, they determined the search area using data from the GPS collar of the mother, who died from human-wildlife conflict, and looked for all of the 6-week-old cubs for more than a week.
On the first day, they found a cub hiding in a hole and another wedged between two rocks. The third one was found in chaparral three days later. All were found within 250 feet of each other.
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"Due to their young age, they likely would not have survived more than one week on their own," the Wildlife Alliance said in a press release.
The teams continued searching for a few more days, monitoring remote trail cameras, which found no evidence of other cubs.
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The young lions were treated for dehydration and were reunited at Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which was deemed a "safe haven" for the cubs, who were orphaned at a very young age and could not be safely reintroduced into their native habitat.
Lisa Peterson, the executive director of San Diego Zoo Safari Park, said the trio was nursed back to full health.
“We now have the honor of caring for them long term," Peterson said in a press release. "While our research teams and our conservation partners continue their mountain lion work in the field, the Safari Park will be a refuge for these three cubs offering them native landscapes and new opportunities to thrive, while sharing the importance of coexistence among wildlife with our guests.”
Peterson explained that mountain lions, also known as cougars, pumas or panthers, are a keystone species, meaning they play an important role in helping hold their habitat together.
Mountain lions inhabit areas from Canada to South America and can live in diverse environments, from high mountains and deserts to coastal areas and cities. In Southern California, where mountain lions are close to people, they have low annual survival rates, leading to a risk of population decline and extinction.
