Injured mountain lion cub found on LA County street being rehabilitated in Northern California
A mountain lion that was found injured on a Castaic road in January is now being rehabilitated in Northern California after wildlife officials were unable to reunite it with its mother.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said that once the cub's health reached a certain level, they tried to reunite the duo for more than a week. When they were unable to do so, they decided it would be safer and more beneficial if it were rehabilitated alongside other mountain lions.
"I know they made a huge effort to try to get it reunited with its mother and that didn't work out," said Ken Wayne, with Flying Tails, a wildlife rescue operation in Northern California. "This is the next best thing."
CDFW officials worked with neighbors to review surveillance camera footage of other mountain lions in the area and left the cub in an open-air cage as they tried to reunite her with her mother, but eventually they decided to take the cub to the Sonoma County wildlife rescue.
The cub, which was previously thought to be 6 months old but is actually a bit younger, spent some recovery time at the Los Angeles Zoo before Flying Tails stepped in to help.
"It's just so rewarding to be able to find an animal that needs help," Wayne said. He has helped fly animals in need to safety or recovery for years, including in January last year when Los Angeles County animal shelters were overrun due to the Palisades and Eaton fires.
He said that his operation recently rescued another mountain lion cub from somewhere in San Luis Obispo, and that the duo will be rehabbed in the same enclosure.
"So that they can be returned back to where they were found as older, wiser and better animals," Wayne said. "So that they can survive out there and not be at risk."
Wildlife officials say that the cub weighs approximately 16 pounds as of the start of February, but that she will need to be at least 50 pounds and know her way around the wild before she's released.
