#VetTales Friday CUBdate: Fern, Thistle, and Spruce are doing well under the watchful eye of our cub rescue team.
Each of the three is growing and eating well. Hospital keepers Amber and Nikki keep everyone stimulated with new structures and enrichment items regularly, and we're starting to introduce the cubs to new people so they become used to a larger variety of humans in their lives.
As cute as they are, the reality is that ideally, mountain lion cubs like these are not living in captivity. The more we can reduce human-wildlife conflict, the fewer tragic cases like the passing of their mom (killed by a car) will happen.
More:
https://t.co/g3IEDkCAi5
📸: Keeper Amber
SNOW AT THE ZOO 🐮 🐼 The Nashville Zoo's residents are having fun in the white fluff today, say hi to Hamish the Scottish Highland calf and Bo the Red Panda.
How cool is this?! 😍 It’s not every day we get a species admitted that we’ve never treated before! This is a Torresian kingfisher, native to tropical forest and mangroves through Australia and southern New Guinea!
Our love will never tapir, Ume! ❤️ The adorable endangered tapir calf was born on Feb. 2 to mom Yuna. Ume sports the signature white spots and stripes of a newborn tapir, making her look like a tiny, fuzzy watermelon. 🍉 This special arrival is only the second Malayan tapir calf ever born at the Zoo in our 120-year history. Mom and baby are thriving behind the scenes, and we can’t wait to share more updates soon. 💕
📹: Keeper Katie
Bear-y exciting news 🐻🤎
First-time mama Shala welcomed two sloth bear cubs in early December, and after several weeks bonding in their private den, the shaggy-haired sweethearts are making their debut.
On Sunday, @CaliforniaDFW brought 3 orphaned mountain lion cubs to Oakland Zoo’s vet hospital. The trio, estimated to be about 3 months old, were found in Portola Valley. CDFW believes the mother of these cubs is the same female mountain lion that was killed by a car in the same area.
The three siblings (2 males and 1 female), are thin but relatively healthy. Their care team at our veterinary hospital has given them the names Thistle, Spruce, and Fern (Fern is the female). In the wild, mountain lion cubs need about two years with their mother in the wild to learn survival skills. Because these cubs are so young, they lack those skills and sadly cannot return to the wild.
Instead, we will work with CDFW to find these cubs a new forever home at an appropriate institution.
While they are with us, we will take great care of these orphaned cubs, and, we will continue to take action to reduce human-wildlife conflict and make our shared living spaces safer for all animals.
More:
https://t.co/fhnKVt9kA4