Oakland Zoo Rescues Orphaned Mountain Lion Cub Found Wandering Alone in El Dorado County

What’s an animal lover to do though, when the kitten is actually a mountain lion cub?

This was the scenario some good Samaritans in El Dorado County found themselves in last week, when they spotted an adorable 4-week-old mountain lion alone on a quiet road. While more idiotic individuals (me — I’m talking about me) might have attempted to snatch the cat up themselves, these nature-loving humans had the sense to call in the big-hearted pros of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The state agency spent the weekend surveilling the cub and monitoring wildlife cameras to see if they could find his family. By Monday, it was clear that the cub was all on his lonesome. CDFW promptly swept in, rescued the poor little bugger, got him fed and watered, and delivered him safely to the big cat lovers of Oakland Zoo.

This is what landed before the zoo’s veterinary hospital team on Monday:

I mean…

The cub, who has been named Briar by his carers, is one of the zoo’s youngest mountain lion rescues ever. Because of his smollness — and the fact that cubs usually stay with their mothers for the first two years of their lives — Briar will never have the skills to survive in the wild. As the zoo helps Briar adapt to his new life in captivity, it’s also searching for a new permanent home for the cub. (My house? Anyone? No?)

Briar is the 27th mountain lion the Oakland Zoo has taken in as part of its Bay Area Cougar Action Team (BACAT) alliance, which was formed in 2013. Previous big cat rescues have been necessitated by wildfires, but BACAT emphasizes that human activity is a threat to mountain lions in a plethora of ways, many of which have to do with our encroachment on their habitat.

When it comes to big cats, Oakland Zoo doesn’t only come to the assistance of mountain lions. Earlier this year, staff there helped to rehabilitate Lily, a gravely injured tiger cub who had been raised (appallingly) in a private residence. Once Lily was back on her feet, the zoo found her a new home at PAWS Wildlife Sanctuary, a 2,300-acre park in San Andreas. Here’s hoping Briar’s story will have a similarly happy ending.

Rescued Cub's New Home at Oakland Zoo

The Oakland Zoo just stepped up and rescued its 27th mountain lion, this one a four- to five-week old cub named Briar, who was found wandering motherless in El Dorado County over the weekend. The Oakland Zoo has rather famously taken in more than two dozen mountain lions over the last 12 years or so — when the mountain lions are burned badly in wildfires, suffering from hypothermia in the winter months, or when cubs are simply found abandoned and malnourished. And the zoo just took in mountain lion Number 27 in their Bay Area Cougar Action Team (BACAT) efforts on Monday, as KRON4 reports the Oakland Zoo has rescued another baby mountain lion cub, this one found abandoned and motherless over the weekend in the northeast California region of El Dorado County.

“He was found in El Dorado County by a resident,” the zoo posted to Facebook Wednesday morning. They added that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife “conducted both ground and wildlife camera surveillance in hopes of finding a mother, but sadly no mountain lions were detected in the area for several days and the decision was made to save this orphaned cub.”

According to the zoo’s post, they’ve named the male youngster Briar because of his spots resembling the vines of a blackberry bush. He’s been determined to be somewhere between four and five weeks old, which makes Briar one of the youngest mountain lions the zoo has ever taken in from a rescue mission.

“We will take care of little Briar until a forever home for him can be found,” the zoo said in their post. But that forever home may be right here in the zoo’s large mountain lion habitat, or another environment in captivity. A zoo representative told KRON4 that “Mountain lion cubs need about two years with their mother in the wild to learn survival skills. Because Briar is so young, he lacks those skills and cannot return to the wild.”

It is unclear why the cub was abandoned, and it may be simply because the mother and the other cubs died. The zoo notes that mountain lions are threatened by habitat loss caused by development sprawl, are often hit by cars, and of course, sometimes fall prey to wildfires.

Motherly Instinct: The Couple Who Found Briar

A mountain lion cub rescued last week in El Dorado County is doing well Thursday night, being cared for by veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo. Zoo staff named him Briar because they said the spots on his fur resembled a blackberry bush.

Marife Elizarraras was relieved to see the month-old cub once again in videos posted by the zoo on Facebook. She was with her husband when they rescued him on Aug. 1. “We were blessed to be able to find him,” she said.

The couple was driving down a street near their Camino home when they spotted the cub in the middle of the roadway. They said they'd never seen a mountain lion in their neighborhood before.

“He was really, really feisty when I picked him up and really tired and exhausted,” Elizarraras said. “I don't know how long he had been wandering around.”

The family took lots of photos of the cub in the couple of hours they had him before the Department of Fish and Wildlife picked him up. “We tried to calm him down because he was very, very scared, but we fell in love with him. He was so cute,” Elizarraras said.

The agency said it looked for the mother in the forest and used wildlife surveillance cameras for several days but didn't find any other mountain lions. That's why he ended up at the Oakland Zoo, which specializes in mountain lion rescues.

“He's well hydrated. He's a chubby little guy, even though this is such a trauma for somebody so young, he is definitely in pretty good shape physically,” said Dr. Alex Herman. Herman is the vice president of veterinary services at the Oakland Zoo. When she first examined the cub, she found no injuries or illnesses. He now weighs five pounds.

Herman said the first ten days are critical to give the cub attention and love. “Sometimes these little guys can come in looking good, but then the stress of losing their mom or being abandoned, they’ll break with a heavy load of parasite or skin infections,” she said. “All that cortisol stress hormone is immune suppressive when they go through trauma like this.”

Briar will be under observation for about a month before finding a permanent home in captivity. “When they are this young, unfortunately, there isn't the opportunity for them to be rehabbed and sent back into the wild,” Herman said. “They just need too much mentoring from their parent, from their mom.”

Wildlife agents thanked Elizararras for saving the cub, calling her a mountain lion savior. She said the little cub will always be in her heart. “It was a motherly instinct, and I had to go and help him,” she said. Herman said Elizararras did the right thing by moving the cub off the roadway and calling wildlife experts.

A Rescue Story From 150 Miles Away

OAKLAND, Calif. - An orphaned mountain lion cub is recuperating at the Oakland Zoo after it was found orphaned more than 150 miles away.

In a Facebook post, the Oakland Zoo said the California Department of Fish and Wildlife brought them the cub – about four weeks – on Monday, after someone in El Dorado County found him wandering alone.

Authorities searched the area by foot and with surveillance cameras hoping to find the cub's mother, but “sadly, no mountain lions were detected in the area for several days and the decision was made to save this orphaned cub,” the zoo posted.

The zoo said that the cub, which they nicknamed “Briar,” seems to be in fine health. They shared video of the tiny creature during his medical exam and being wrapped in a soft, blue blanket.

The zoo said they will take care of the cub until they can find a permanent place for the wild cat.

The cub is the 27th rescued mountain lion at the Oakland Zoo.

Mountain lion ecosystems have been eroding over the years because of human development, highways, traffic deaths and wildfires.