"We're just kind of at the beginning of the fire season right now, and we’ve already got three in our care. There is no way to gauge how many animals a fire season may be orphans, she said. Last year, the department housed three bears and a mountain lion from the Thomas and Camp fires. He is now receiving treatment from California's Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with another bear from the Zogg fire and a mountain lion from the Bobcat fire, Macintyre said. Two officers helped drag the bear, suffering from some scratches, to safety. A biologist tranquilized the 350-pound animal, which walked into a creek and risked drowning, according to the Lincoln Police Department's Facebook page. Last month, police officers in Lincoln helped rescue a bear that had escaped the coincidentally named Bear fire in Butte County. "Not an overabundance, of course, because they’re smart enough to hightail it out of there," he said Friday. The mascot, a muscly cat in a yellow firefighter jacket, helps spread the message of wildfire preparedness and prevention with his motto: "Safety starts with you."Ĭal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said responders occasionally find wildlife in the course of firefighting. The doe-eyed cub's new moniker ties into Cal Fire's mountain lion mascot, which the department unveiled last year. Cal has already become a household name in California wildfire prevention. Cal will stay in the care of the Oakland Zoo until he heals, officials said. And despite burns to his paw pads, the cub sustained no bone injuries, either.Ĭapt. Chest X-rays showed no lung damage from smoke inhalation. Cal advanced wound treatment and will keep him until he heals, Harrison said. The zoo is working with UC Davis to give Capt. The effort, which was intended to keep the babies wild, did not work, and the youngsters were placed in a sanctuary. On Thursday, wildlife biologists announced that an experiment to get a cougar in the Santa Ana Mountains to adopt two orphaned cubs had failed. Ideal circumstances would allow wild animals to be returned - or kept - in their natural environment, but that isn't always possible.
Mountain lions typically stay close to their mothers for two years to learn how to hunt and survive. Cal is too young and small to return to the wild, Macintyre said. Officials loaded the baby into a cardboard box and turned him over to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which transported him to the Oakland Zoo.įish and Wildlife spokeswoman Kirsten Macintyre said that with its facilities and trained staff, the zoo is "uniquely equipped to handle exactly this kind of case."Īt just 4 to 6 weeks old and weighing just under 4 pounds, Capt. When the fire crew took a closer look, they realized the animal was a mountain lion kitten. He was wandering alone on Zogg Mine Road before taking refuge under a fallen tree. This story has not been edited by and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.When firefighters in Shasta County first spotted the baby, they mistook him for a house cat, said Issac Sanchez, a Cal Fire captain and spokesman. Alex Herman, director of veterinary services at the zoo. "We're cautiously optimistic that this cub will now survive and thrive," said Dr. Mountain lions usually stay with their mothers until they are about 2 years old in order to learn survival skills.īut this the animal was orphaned and now can't learn those skills so he'll be placed in a zoo once he's ready to leave the veterinary hospital. X-rays determined he didn't have any lung damage from smoke or bone damage to his paws.Ī vet said he is currently eating on his own and acting feisty, both promising signs for his recovery. The cougar, who now weighs about five pounds, was taken to the zoo's veterinary hospital, where he was cleaned and given antibiotics, pain medications and fed a milk formula for kittens through a syringe.
The male cub, believed to be four to six weeks old, had his whiskers singed off and his paws severely burned.Ī state firefighter battling the Zogg Fire in Redding rescued him last week.Īs a result, he was named Captain Cal, after the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's mascot. An orphaned mountain lion cub who was badly burned in a Northern California wildfire is being treated at the Oakland Zoo after being rescued.