Sometimes wild animals get injured or become sick or needy, and they need kind people to help them get back on their feet.
That was recently the case, after a zoo in California came to the aid of an orphaned mountain lion cub.
According to a press release from the Oakland Zoo, the five-month-old orphan, now named Rose, was first discovered by hikers in Thornewood Open Space Preserve in San Mateo, and she clearly needed help. She was severely underweight, weighing 4 kilograms while the average weight at her age is 15 kilograms.
Teams from the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife tried to capture the cub so they could give her the help she needed. The zoo says she was found “at the eleventh hour” and was at risk of starving: they estimate she hadn’t eaten for weeks.
“She’s emaciated,” says Dr. Alex Herman, who works at the zoo. “To survive, her body resorted to consuming its own muscle mass. She also suffers from extreme dehydration, and her temperature was so low that it wasn’t even detectable.”
Now Rose is receiving treatments at the Oakland Zoo, where veterinarians provide care 24 hours a day. She was infested with fleas and ticks, had a very low blood cell count, and could receive a blood transfusion.
They say that while the mountain lion cub still has a long way to go, they are cautiously optimistic about her recovery. They continue to monitor her vital signs and conduct blood tests, saying she has regained some strength and has eaten meat.
But the zoo says that even if Rose recovers, she cannot be released into the wild. This is because mountain lions learn survival skills from their mothers in their early years, and Rose as an orphan would not survive.
But Rose will have a place to stay in the coming months as she continues her hopeful recovery. And if all goes well, she will find a new permanent home in an accredited zoo.
We are so glad that this poor mountain lion cub was found just in time, and that these kind veterinarians are working hard to save her life.
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