Three-week-old mountain lion cub rescued by California biologists | California

It was an unusual scene. A lion cub left alone for days in the sprawling Santa Monica mountains of Southern California was making a sound somewhere between a purr and a low squeal, perhaps calling out to his mother.

Where was his mother?

National Park Service biologists monitoring the small mountain lion population in the recreation area visited the cub’s location several times.

They guessed that his mother was probably affected to another cow, abandoning the calf in the process.

The lion kitten’s health was deteriorating. He appeared weaker and he was losing weight.

Biologists consulting with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife took action to save the kitten, which was to be left in the care of the Oakland Zoo.

The 3-week-old cub, later named “Red,” arrived at the Oakland Zoo in late March emaciated and unable to stand, according to Nik Dehejia, the zoo’s general manager. Dehejia said it was “extremely small.” A newborn puppy can fit in clasped hands.

It is rare for mountain lions to abandon their cubs. It’s unclear exactly why Crimson’s mother abandoned him.

“Most of the time we will never know,” Dehejia said; However, a hypothesis emerged that the cub’s abnormality (lack of toes) may have signaled to its mother that it too would not survive. “It’s hard to know how many cubs are potentially there, how many cubs the mother is caring for.”

Dehejia said Crimson is currently at the Oakland Zoo in the intensive care unit at the zoo’s veterinary hospital. He was bottle fed every 3 hours to pump nutrients back into his body.

He is the 33rd mountain lion rescued by the Oakland Zoo. Another young mountain lion named Clover, three months old, is currently at the zoo.

“We would never want to take a mountain lion out of the wild,” Dehejia said.

While the zoo was proud to rehabilitate Crimson, they said they wanted the cubs to be with their families. “These cubs actively need their mothers for nursing and socialization.”

Crimson was abandoned by his mother. But other factors, such as habitat fragmentation, urban development and human-wildlife conflict, contribute to zoos accepting distressed animals, Dehejia said.

“For the most part, we’re in their habitat, whereas they’re in ours. This is a larger-scale issue about how we build, how we live, how we coexist with the wildlife around us.”

For now, the zoo is focusing on helping Crimson get stronger and weaning him off bottle feeding, Dehejia said.

Crimson and Clover’s close age could make them very suitable companions, but it will take weeks for the zoo to slowly introduce the two.