The Oakland Zoo is helping to nurse a mountain lion orphan back to health.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife received the report from hikers who spotted the cub in San Mateo. There, biologists transported the sick cub from the hospital to the zoo.
They claim that the cub was tiny “dehydrated, covered in fleas and ticks, and had a very low red blood cell count.”
Caregivers named her Rose and believe she’s about 4 or 5 months old. Rose weighed only 8 pounds and 8 ounces, which is the average weight for a cub that age.
Veterinarians estimate the little lion cub hadn’t eaten in weeks. But that’s changing now that Rose is in the care of the Oakland Zoo. She is being bottle fed formula and spoon fed, not quite understanding yet that the spoon isn’t part of the meal, but there’s plenty of time to learn.
Because of her anemia, Rose needed a blood transfusion, and thankfully Silverado, one of the Oakland Zoo’s resident mountain lions, was a match for her.
“Since she had that blood transfusion, she’s obviously a lot better,”Dr. Ryan Sadler, Oakland Zoo Hospital.
Doctors are “guardedly optimistic” about Rose’s recovery.
Rose is an orphan and has missed out on her mother’s vital first two years teaching survival skills. Rose cannot be released into nature because of this. Officials at the Zoo say that they will find her a home in a wildlife preserve or zoo.
