(This story has been updated with additional information about the lion’s condition.)
Wildlife officials have rescued a weeks-old mountain lion found in the western Santa Monica Mountains.
The National Park Service tracked the kitten’s mother, part of a long-term study of the mountain lion population in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and believed the cougar recently had kittens. Scientists with the park service have studied local pumas since 2002 to see how they’re surviving in an increasingly urban area.
The work includes outfitting mountain lions with GPS collars and tagging kittens in dens. In this case, however, researchers found just one kitten, now dubbed P-131, in a den. The small, spotted lion was missing toes on one of his hind feet, an injury officials believe may have been caused by umbilical strangulation.
Using GPS collar data, telemetry and remote cameras, researchers monitored the den over several days to allow for the possibility of the mother’s return, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. But after multiple days, authorities decided that intervention was needed.
It had become clear the kitten was alone and his condition was declining, officials said. The kitten, found in the Thousand Oaks area, was 22 days old, the department reported.
“Decisions like this are based on real-time monitoring, the animal’s condition and whether intervention is likely to make a meaningful difference,” said Kyle Evans, the department’s environmental program manager in Southern California.
The department only intervenes when conditions indicate the animal cannot survive in the wild or when public safety is at risk, officials said. In this situation, the monitoring data allowed biologists to detect a problem early and confirm the mountain lion was abandoned, according to the department.
It is not yet known if his mother, called P-129, had other kittens in the litter and whether she had moved them to another spot.
Due to his young age and a permanent injury, the kitten was not a candidate for release back into the wild, the department said. He was initially taken to the Los Angeles Zoo where he responded well to treatment. Officials then transferred him to the Oakland Zoo. He arrived there on March 27.
Now named Crimson, he was flown by Flying Tails Animal Rescue and taken to the Oakland Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital. Officials described him as healthy and said he had been handling his bottle feedings well. The team feeds him every three hours at this age.
The zoo’s staff will continue to monitor his foot as he grows to ensure he uses the leg and it doesn’t cause any complications, according to the zoo. Once he gets a little older, plans also call for introducing Crimson to Clover, a female kitten rescued earlier this month that also is receiving care at the zoo.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Abandoned mountain lion kitten rescued in Ventura County
Reporting by Cheri Carlson, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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