Mountain lions found malnourished as cubs released back into the wild

Two mountain lions that were orphaned as cubs have been released back into the San Diego County wilderness.

The cubs, which were found malnourished earlier this year, were trapped by the UC Davis California Carnivores Program and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to the San Diego Humane Society. They were taken to the organization’s Ramona Wildlife Center on March 26 for specialized rehabilitation and veterinary care.

Human interaction was kept to a minimum throughout the rehabilitation process to familiarize the cubs with natural hunting behaviors and habitat, said Angela Hernandez-Cusick, a wildlife supervisor at the center.

“That could be anything from the way we work with them, day in and day out, to providing visual barriers,” Hernandez-Cusick said. “We’re monitoring them regularly, but we have to get really creative on how we move forward.”

The mountain lions were released on Sept. 18, without human attachments to speak of.

“We actually don’t name our patients, just because, you know, there comes that attachment,” Hernandez-Cusick said.

Wild mountain lions face constant risks in California, including vehicles, wildfires and habitat encroachment, Hernandez-Cusick said. The wild mountain lion population has significantly decreased over the years, and the species is classified as “near-threatened,” according to the National Wildlife Federation.

“We certainly don’t want them getting into situations where there’s going to be human-wildlife conflict,” Hernandez-Cusick said of the recently released lions. “They’re hopefully less likely to engage with humans.” The hope is that they will not get too close to homes and will stay more in rural areas.

Last year, the California Mountain Lion Project — a research effort headed by academics and environmentalists — revealed that previous projections of the wild mountain lion population in California were incorrect. Instead of 6,000, researchers estimate the population is significantly lower, between 3,200 and 4,500.