Feel good story WY lion kittens
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:41 pm
starving orphan kittens will go to zoo
from Planet Jackson Hole:
http://www.planetjh.com/news/A_103205.aspx
The Buzz: Cougar kitties reunited
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
By Ben Cannon
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The story of three orphaned cougar kittens came to a close last week, with the capture of the third which had eluded wildlife officials for days after its two siblings had been captured.
It’s not a perfect ending – no one is excited when wild animals have to live a life in captivity - but wildlife managers said they were fortunate to find an accredited facility where the cats will spend the rest of their lives, always reliant on a human hand for food.
The first two cougar kittens captured last week are still being held in a Wyoming Game and Fish wildlife research center. Because the pair arrived at local G&F offices underfed and vulnerable it was feared the third was dead. Then, on Wednesday, wildlife officials began receiving a number of reports that the animal had been spotted west of Wilson, near homes off of Trail Creek Road. Jackson Hole Daily photographer Bradly Boner located and photographed the third cougar kitten that day.
On Friday, officials found the animal atop a woodpile near a home, where the homeowner reported seeing it earlier in the day. Wildlife managers used a noose pole to capture the cougar kitten which was, like its siblings, malnourished and weary. The animal was taken to the Jackson G&F office, where it was fed the meat of a sickly young moose that had died in an East Jackson neighborhood last week.
Mark Gocke, a local G&F spokesman, said the animal appeared healthier after only a few days of feeding.
“The first time I saw the cougar it was pretty docile,” Gocke said. “The second time I went to go look at the animal it snarled at me. It had obviously become more active and alert and more like a wild cat.”
Officials believe the cougar kittens are younger than six-months old: too young to fend for themselves in the wild.
The body of the mother was found before wildlife managers had custody of the kittens, which were photographed by a number of valley residents before officials captured them. The results from a necropsy performed on the mother cougar at a state laboratory had yet to be released by press time.
The third cougar kitten joined its siblings at the Laramie wildlife research facility on Tuesday.
From there the trio will be sent to the Chahinkapa Zoo, located in Wahpeton, N.D. Wahpeton, a town of 9,000 located in the southwest corner of the state, boasts the region’s most modern medical center, a state college of science and the zoo – which also houses Bengal tigers.
“We were fortunate to find a facility to take these animals,” Gocke said. “Obviously we would prefer to have wildlife living in the wild, but these animals were close to dying.”
If suitable homes for the cougar kittens had not been found, the animals eventually would have been euthanized.
COURTESY PHOTO
One of the cougar kittens headed to North Dakota.
from Planet Jackson Hole:
http://www.planetjh.com/news/A_103205.aspx
The Buzz: Cougar kitties reunited
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
By Ben Cannon
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The story of three orphaned cougar kittens came to a close last week, with the capture of the third which had eluded wildlife officials for days after its two siblings had been captured.
It’s not a perfect ending – no one is excited when wild animals have to live a life in captivity - but wildlife managers said they were fortunate to find an accredited facility where the cats will spend the rest of their lives, always reliant on a human hand for food.
The first two cougar kittens captured last week are still being held in a Wyoming Game and Fish wildlife research center. Because the pair arrived at local G&F offices underfed and vulnerable it was feared the third was dead. Then, on Wednesday, wildlife officials began receiving a number of reports that the animal had been spotted west of Wilson, near homes off of Trail Creek Road. Jackson Hole Daily photographer Bradly Boner located and photographed the third cougar kitten that day.
On Friday, officials found the animal atop a woodpile near a home, where the homeowner reported seeing it earlier in the day. Wildlife managers used a noose pole to capture the cougar kitten which was, like its siblings, malnourished and weary. The animal was taken to the Jackson G&F office, where it was fed the meat of a sickly young moose that had died in an East Jackson neighborhood last week.
Mark Gocke, a local G&F spokesman, said the animal appeared healthier after only a few days of feeding.
“The first time I saw the cougar it was pretty docile,” Gocke said. “The second time I went to go look at the animal it snarled at me. It had obviously become more active and alert and more like a wild cat.”
Officials believe the cougar kittens are younger than six-months old: too young to fend for themselves in the wild.
The body of the mother was found before wildlife managers had custody of the kittens, which were photographed by a number of valley residents before officials captured them. The results from a necropsy performed on the mother cougar at a state laboratory had yet to be released by press time.
The third cougar kitten joined its siblings at the Laramie wildlife research facility on Tuesday.
From there the trio will be sent to the Chahinkapa Zoo, located in Wahpeton, N.D. Wahpeton, a town of 9,000 located in the southwest corner of the state, boasts the region’s most modern medical center, a state college of science and the zoo – which also houses Bengal tigers.
“We were fortunate to find a facility to take these animals,” Gocke said. “Obviously we would prefer to have wildlife living in the wild, but these animals were close to dying.”
If suitable homes for the cougar kittens had not been found, the animals eventually would have been euthanized.
COURTESY PHOTO
One of the cougar kittens headed to North Dakota.