Trio of mountain lion cubs rescued at Oakland Zoo after mother was likely struck, killed

Authorities are looking for a forever home for a trio of mountain lion cubs the California Department of Fish and Wildlife found wandering through a neighborhood in San Mateo County earlier this month.

Portola Valley residents discovered the 3-month-old cubs — named Fern, Thistle and Spruce — and called wildlife officials, who later found them hiding under a car and took them about 40 miles to the Oakland Zoo, where hospital staff performed health examinations.

The three cubs were relatively healthy but thin after it was determined that their mother was absent for about two weeks before their rescue, zoo officials said in a news release this week.

Using trail cameras and local security cameras, fish and wildlife officials monitored the kittens before capturing them to determine if they were orphaned. The agency believes the mother is the same lion that was struck by a car on Portola Valley Road, about 0.3 miles from where the siblings were found.

“While there were many witnesses of the mountain lion after it was hit, the carcass has since disappeared and is still being investigated,” the Oakland Zoo said in a statement. “As such, CDFW can’t confirm a relationship between the kittens and female lions using DNA.”

The department has also not confirmed the sightings of any adult female lion searching or calling for her cubs. The three cubs will live the rest of their days in captivity. Mountain lion cubs require about two years with their mother to learn survival skills before they can fend for themselves in the wild, zoo officials said.

“Mountain lions are known to inhabit the Portola Valley area,” Krysten Kellum, information officer for the department’s Bay Delta Region, said via email. “There is suitable open space, natural habitat there in the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains.”

The three puma cubs will live the rest of their days in captivity. They require about two years with their mother to learn survival skills before they can fend for themselves in the wild, Oakland Zoo officials said.

(Oakland Zoo)

A 2023 report by the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis found that one or two mountain lions were killed every week on California roads and highways between 2015 and 2022. This mortality rate comes as the state sees a steady decline in the species’ reproduction rate.

“As human development has significantly enhanced the well-being of our communities, it has simultaneously taken a toll on wildlife and their natural habitats,” Oakland Zoo CEO Nik Dehejia said in a statement. “Now more than ever, we must continually advocate for establishing wildlife corridors, such as the recent overpass in Los Angeles, to maintain the biodiversity of our Golden State.”

The zoo will not keep the cubs and is working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to relocate them to a permanent home, officials said.