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Mountain lion released into Santa Ana Mountains after rehabbing from near-death collision with vehicle
A young mountain lion was nursed back to health and released into the wild this month after surviving a brutal collision with a vehicle in Southern California.
The San Diego Humane Society announced the good news on Sunday, about five months after the big cat was hit by a vehicle in January. It received emergency care at Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Orange County.
The mountain lion, now 10 months old, suffered from a skull fracture, head and eye trauma and lameness in his left hind leg, the Humane Society said. It treated the animal starting on Jan. 15. On June 17, it was released back into the Santa Ana Mountains.
"This is the moment we all work toward — seeing a wild animal return to where they belong," said Autumn Welch, Wildlife Operations Manager at San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center. "Our job is to provide medical care while preserving the animal's wild instincts, so they have the best possible chance at surviving on their own."
The Humane Society said the treatment focused on pain management and nutritional support for the first several weeks, before moving him to an outdoor enclosure to prepare for life back in the wild.
The decision to move him back into the mountains was made after 153 days, where he reached a healthy weight of about 60 pounds and demonstrated "natural survival behaviors."
