Mountain lions recovering in Petaluma

<p>Two orphaned mountain lion cubs have taken up residence in Petaluma, where they will be raised as part of an educational program based at the Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue center.</p><p>Just 4 months old and recovering from serious injuries, the brother and sister will live in a special habitat that volunteers are building just for them.</p><p>“We are creating a natural habitat that will allow visitors to observe them throughout their lifetime,” said Doris Duncan, the center’s executive director. “We hope to change people’s perceptions and eliminate so much fear.”</p><p>The female, Kyla, is recovering from a broken front left leg. The male, Kuma, had his front left paw amputated and will need additional medical care.</p><p>California Department of Fish and Game officials said the cubs were found in Northern California when they were 8 to 9 weeks old. Officials said the cubs’ mother is dead, but would not disclose how the animals were injured or other details about how they were found.</p><p>Pam Swift, the department’s wildlife veterinarian, cared for the cubs at a Sacramento-area facility until they came to Petaluma about three weeks ago.</p><p>“We had them a number of weeks in Rancho Cordova. They did great. .<TH>.<TH>. They handled surgeries quite well,” said Swift. “They needed to be placed to be socialized, to learn to be in captivity.” </p><p>Dan Famini, a veterinarian at the Humane Society and SPCA of Sonoma County, will take over their care.</p><p>After securing special permits and an agreement with Fish and Game, Duncan has been organizing volunteers to build a secure, nature-filled enclosure.</p><p>The immediate cost of accepting the cubs and building their habitat is expected to run at least $40,000, despite donations of expertise, labor and supplies from local businesses, Duncan said. </p><p>The steel enclosure will have trees growing inside and will include a man-made, circulating creek.</p><p>Now housed in a similar but smaller enclosure, the cubs are acclimating to the Sonoma County climate.</p><p>Duncan has been feeding them servings of deer, quail and boars that Fish and Game has confiscated from poachers.</p><p>In the coming months, the cubs’ aqua blue eyes will turn a golden green, and they’ll lose their spots as their adult coats take on a dark straw color. They’ll keep their distinctive white muzzles, which look a bit like milk mustaches.</p><p>Tim Dunbar, associate director of the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation in Sacramento, estimates there are 4,000 to 5,000 mountain lions in California. </p><p>Also known as cougars or pumas, the lions typically live in hilly terrain and roam within a 15- to 30-mile territory. They are primarily nocturnal.</p><p>Cubs stay with their mothers for two years while they learn to hunt. They prey mainly on deer and sheep but also other wildlife such as skunks, fish, birds and rodents</p><p>“I’ve been lucky enough to see a mountain lion in the wild twice. But I’m sure hundreds, if not thousands, of mountain lions have seen me,” said Doug Updike, a Fish and Game biologist and mountain lion expert.</p><p>Mountain lions can live 10 to 20 years in captivity, and Updike hopes the educational program being developed by his department and Wildlife Rescue will eliminate false impressions about the lions.<NO1><NO></p><p>“There have only been 14 attacks of people by mountain lions in California in the last 120 years. They prefer deer,” he said. “If they liked the way we taste, we’d have hundreds of attacks every weekend.”</p>