SoCal mountain lion cubs find home in Oakland

The Oakland Zoo has taken in two orphan mountain lion cubs found recently in Orange County and testing will be done to determine if they are siblings, zoo officials said Tuesday.

The cubs were found separately two weeks apart from each other. Both are males about 3 to 4 months old that weigh nearly 30 pounds, according to the zoo.

The cubs were found about 15 miles apart, in a backyard in Orange County’s Silverado Canyon area and on a roadside in the Rancho Santa Margarita area.

Orange County Animal Care officials wrote on Facebook on Nov. 13 that the first of the two was initially called in as a bobcat that could not get out of a backyard, but was later determined to be a mountain lion cub.

Because of their ages and promixity to each other, zoo officials plan on conducting DNA testing to determine if they are siblings. An adult female mountain lion was struck and killed by a motorist in the area of the cubs’ rescue so veterinarians think the cubs may have belonged to her.

The second of the two cubs came to Oakland Zoo on Monday and zookeepers described him as the feistier of the pair. They both will be part of the zoo’s 56-acre California Trail expansion opening in June 2018.

Oakland Zoo director of conservation Amy Gotliffe said in a statement:

“It is an honor to provide a forever home for these young mountain lions, and honor their lives further by working to help conserve their wild counterparts.”