Apex predator recovers after car crash. See it return to California wilderness
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A young apex predator that was hurt in a car crash recovered enough to return to the California wilderness, officials said.
The male mountain lion had a fractured skull, head and eye trauma, and lameness in his left hind leg after the January crash, the San Diego Humane Society said in a June 29 news release.
The cougar received emergency veterinary care before he was transferred to the organization’s Ramona Wildlife Center for rehabilitation, where staff observed him closely and focused on giving him pain management and nutritional support until he stabilized enough to move to an outdoor enclosure, officials said.
While there, “he continued healing with minimal human contact — a critical part of preparing him for life back in the wild,” officials said.
“After 153 days of expert care, the mountain lion reached key milestones for release, including gaining strength, reaching a healthy weight of approximately 60 lbs., demonstrating natural survival behaviors, and avoiding people,” officials said.
Officials estimated the lion to be about 10 months old by the time he was ready for release.
“This is the moment we all work toward — seeing a wild animal return to where they belong,” Autumn Welch, wildlife operations manager at the wildlife center, said in the release. “Our job is to provide medical care while preserving the animal’s wild instincts, so they have the best possible chance at surviving on their own.”
Video shows the various stages of the mountain lion’s rehabilitation, going from its initial indoor enclosure to an outdoor one and receiving medical care before being released into the wild.
The mountain lion saunters out of the carrier and seems to hesitate when it’s released, looking back and facing the the people releasing it.
“Go on, kitty, go on,” someone says to encourage the cougar in the right direction with the sound of their voice. It seems to work, and the mountain lion takes off in the other direction.
The wildlife center is part of the humane society’s Project Wildlife program, which “specializes in the rehabilitation of native apex predators and birds of prey, including eagles, owls, hawks, coyotes, bobcats, bears and, under special case-by-case authorization, mountain lions,” officials said.
The program “cares for more than 10,000 wild animals each year — from orphaned baby songbirds to apex predators — with the mission of rehabilitating and returning them to their natural habitats whenever possible,” officials said.