Orphaned Mountain Lion Cubs Nursed Back To Health At Oakland Zoo

OAKLAND,CA – Three critically ill, orphaned mountain lion cubs have come roaring, or at least purring, back to health and are thriving in their new habitat at the Oakland Zoo and will soon be available for public viewing.

Coloma, a female, was found on the roadside near death in Coloma, an El Dorado County city, at the age of six to eight weeks in December. Her "brothers," Silverado and Toro, with whom she has bonded but to whom she is not related, were found in Orange County at the age of three to four months in December, zoo officials said.

"It's been a long road to recovery for each of these orphaned puma, and a very emotional time for all of us who have helped them become normal young cats," Darren Minier, the zoo's assistant director of animal care, said in a statement.

The cubs can't be released back in the wild because there's no mother to teach them to hunt, according to Zara McDonald, head of the Bay Area Puma Project.

"Mountain lion cubs need up to two years with their mom to learn how to survive and thrive. Human survival training is not possible," McDonald said.

The people who found Coloma in December contacted Sierra Wildlife Rescue workers, who in turn contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The latter agency partners with the zoo, the puma project and the Mountain Lion Foundation to rescue mountain lions like Coloma.

Zoo veterinarians and staff worked 24/7 to save the lives of the three cubs. As their health improved, staffers gradually introduced the three, and "they immediately bonded and formed a strong family unit," zoo spokeswoman Erin Dogan Harrison said.

The three are now sparring, climbing and perching in a newly built habitat at the zoo scheduled to open to the public in June. The habitat has oak trees, caves, resting platforms and grassy hillsides that duplicate the
lions' natural environment.

The habitat, which encompasses 13,000 square feet, has been under construction for the last three years and is part of the zoo's upcoming California Trail expansion, according to Harrison.

"It's one of the biggest mountain lion exhibits in the world, maybe the biggest," Harrison said.

Coloma, Silverado and Toro will have it all to themselves, Harrison said. There are no other mountain lions at the zoo.

Coloma, who was too weak to walk when she arrived at the zoo, now bosses around her adopted brothers, Harrison said.

PHOTOS: COLOMA IN DECEMBER BEING TREATED AT OAKLAND ZOO UPON ARRIVAL IN DECEMBER; SILVERADO IN ITS NEW HABITAT; COLOMA IN ITS NEW HABITAT CLIMBING A TREE LAST WEEK; ALL THREE MOUNTAIN LIONS EXPLORING ITS HABITAT

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--Bay City News/Images via BCN courtesy of Oakland Zoo