3 Orphaned Mountain Lion Cubs Have New Home At Safari Park

SAN DIEGO, CA — Three rescued orphaned mountain lion cubs have a new home for the holidays — San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife found the 6-week-old cubs separately following an extensive search over the span of a week.

Because the cubs were orphaned at an early age, they cannot be safely reintroduced into their native habitat, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a nonprofit conservation organization that operates the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. The Department of Fish and Wildlife designated the Safari Park as a safe haven for the rescued cubs.

"Mountain lions are a keystone species right here in our own backyard," said Lisa Peterson,
executive director of the Safari Park.

"It's been a privilege to nurse these youngsters back to full health, and we now have the honor of caring for them long term," Peterson said. "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."

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife assembled a search party to find the cubs and used data from the GPS collar of their mother, designated F307 by the UC Davis mountain lion research team, to determine the search area.

On the first day of the search, team members from UC Davis found the first cub hiding in a hole, and the second was wedged tightly between two rocks. Three days later, they found the third cub crouching in chaparral.

The search continued for several more days and remote trail cameras found no evidence of other cubs, according to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All three cubs were within 250 feet of each other.

"Due to their young age, they likely would not have survived more than one week on their own," a news release from San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said.

The trio were reunited at the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center at the Safari Park, where they were nursed back to full health.