According to the San Diego Humane Society, a mountain lion cub that was hit by a car and suffered terrible injuries, including a broken skull, has been returned to the wild.
The young male lion needed to be carefully rehabilitated for over five months in order to recover without becoming overly reliant on or at ease with humans.
Autumn Welch, Wildlife Operations manager at the Ramona Wildlife Center of the San Diego Humane Society, stated, “Our job is to provide medical care while preserving the animal’s wild instincts so they have the best chance of surviving on their own.”
That was a difficult task when the cub, now around 10 months old, was discovered in January after being hit by the car and suffering from eye injuries, a broken skull, and a lame left hind leg.
After receiving initial care at Orange County’s Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital, the cub was moved to the humane society for his long-term rehabilitation.
Staff at the center concentrated on helping him eat and managing his pain during his first several weeks there. According to workers, they transferred him as quickly as possible to an outdoor enclosure so he could continue his recuperation with little interaction with people.
After 150 days or thereabouts, his caregivers determined he was strong and had put on enough weight to be returned to the wild. In addition, he was acting in a way that was natural for survival and, most importantly, he was avoiding people.
We all strive for this moment, Welch stated.
Thus, on June 17, he was released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife into a secluded area of Orange County’s Santa Ana Mountains.
Two orphaned mountain lion pups that came to the Ramona Wildlife Center in late March are still being cared for by the humanitarian organization. When the cubs were discovered alone, a group of researchers from UC Davis and employees of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife caught them.
The objective is to make them healthy and sufficiently apprehensive of people to allow for their safe return to the wild.
Welch expressed gratitude for the chance to provide these amazing animals with a second chance at life in the wild and for our collaboration with CDFW and UC Davis.
Over 10,000 wild creatures, including apex predators and orphaned young songbirds, are cared for annually by the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife program with the goal of rehabilitating and reintroducing them to their native environments.
