Oakland Zoo Mends 3 Mountain Lion Cubs Rescued From The Zogg Fire

OAKLAND, CA — In the throes of the state's largest fire season on record, a mountain lion kitten was rescued from the destructive Zogg Fire by Cal Fire and turned over to the Oakland Zoo. The orphaned cub, "Captain Cal," suffered singed whiskers and burnt paws from the fire.

And while the six-week old kitten lost his mother to the fire, two weeks after his arrival to the Oakland Zoo, he gained two adopted sisters. Shortly after he was introduced to two female mountain lion kittens also orphaned by the same fire, the trio became inseparable.

After rehabilitating over the last several weeks, Capt. Cal and his two new sisters will board an airplane next month that will take them to their new home in Ohio at the Columbus Zoo.

"They all sleep in a heap, they snuggle and share food," Alex Herman, the head of veterinary services at the zoo, told Patch. "And Columbus Zoo was one of the few places that agreed to take all three kids so they'll remain as a family group which is great."

Because mountain lion cubs typically stay with their mothers until they are around two years old, the three cubs did not learn the survival skills necessary to survive on their own.

Herman has worked to treat Capt. Cal from the first week he arrived and says he is just about fully recovered after several procedures and surgeries in which veterinarians removed burn tissue from his paw pads and treated his singed ears.

"When we first got him he was very thin, very dehydrated and he had severe burns to his feet, the pads of his feet were completely destroyed," She said. "We did three surgeries to remove all the tissues from his paw pads so that they could start the arduous process of healing."

The young cub's bandages came off Nov. 4, just in time for him to integrate with his new family unit. The two female cubs, according to the zoo, were also rescued by firefighters. Fortunately they arrived unharmed by the flames but they did lose their mother to the fire.

"Now he's running around with the girls," she said. "Really he should be fine from here on out."

Herman said she and the team at the Oakland Zoo have been working to socialize Capt. Cal and his sisters, since having so many procedures can have lasting traumatic effects on young cubs.

"He'll walk up and take food from us now," Herman said. "He's become well socialized and more emotionally confident too even after such a huge trauma so we want to make sure he walks out of here with a healthy body and a healthy mind."

Herman and her team at Oakland Zoo have finished running a series of lung and blood tests on all three cubs to ensure their health before they embark on their journey by plane to Ohio.

Fifteen mountain lion orphans have been brought to the Oakland Zoo to rehabilitate since 2017. And aside from increasingly massive wildfire seasons in California, mountain lions face danger in urban areas as many are struck by cars and others are illegally poached, according to the zoo.

Oakland Zoo is partnered with conservation organizations like the Mountain Lion Foundation and the Bay Area Puma Project to help conserve these big cats native to the Golden State.

Capt. Cal was named after Cal Fire's mascot, the muscular cartoon mountain lion dressed as a firefighter, who's storyline is similar to the cub's Zogg Fire rescue. The firefighting mascot's motto is "safety starts with you."

Firefighters in Shasta County reported that he was wandering along Zogg Mine Road alone before he dove under the safety of a fallen tree. First responders then placed the kitten in a box and turned him over to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The wild cub was then rushed from the fire in Redding to the Oakland Zoo.

"They are definitely the poniant face of climate change," Herman said of the three orphaned kittens. "I think they're really a call to all of us to mobilize and try to reverse the effects of climate change that are causing these increasingly frequent and extreme wildfires."

It may not be your ideal breakfast, but for a mtn lion cub, a little meat kebab hits the spot any time of day!

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— Oakland Zoo (@oakzoo) November 24, 2020