A tiny mountain lion cub named Crimson has captured the hearts of wildlife experts after being found abandoned in Southern California. WAN spoke with Nikki Van Ausdall, Chief Communications and Engagement Officer at the Oakland Zoo, about the little cub’s journey.

At just three weeks old, Crimson is thankfully in good health, though he is missing toes on one foot. Experts suspect his mother may have had multiple cubs and was forced to abandon one.

Crimson was found at his den site, weak and having lost 10% of his body weight. When officials realized his mother had not returned, the National Park Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife stepped in to rescue him.

Crimson is the 33rd mountian lion to join the Bay Area Cougar Action Team, also known as BayCAT. The program is an alliance led by the Oakland Zoo, the Bay Area Puma Project, and the Mountain Lion Foundation. Established in 2013, BayCAT works closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to rescue, rehabilitate, and release orphaned, injured, or habituated mountain lions in the Bay Area.

Crimson is receiving round-the-clock care at the Oakland Zoo Veterinary Hospital. Staff bottle-feed him every three hours, and his caregivers are carefully nurturing his wild instincts to ensure he continues to behave naturally despite human intervention.

It is still too early to know whether Crimson will eventually return to the wild. Mountain lions rarely abandon their young, and his missing toes could be the result of an accident. It is also possible his mother was relocating her cubs and he became separated in the process.

Ultimately, the goal is to introduce Crimson to another rescued cub named Clover. Using a method called “fence line howdies,” the cubs will gradually become accustomed to each other before a full introduction.

Clover, who was rescued in Northern California in March, was in much worse condition than Crimson. At less than three months old, she weighed only five pounds, about half of what she should, and was severely malnourished. She even required a lifesaving blood transfusion from another rescued mountain lion named Briar. Now, Clover is stable and slowly adapting to her new surroundings.

Experts say mountain lions thrive best with a companion, and the planned introduction of Crimson and Clover is expected to help both cubs develop natural social behaviors, a strategy that has proven successful in previous rescues.

Briar, now one year old and the lifeline for Clover’s blood transfusion, was rescued near Portola Valley after his mother was hit by a car. He is now a permanent resident at the Oakland Zoo, as mountain lions typically need 12 to 18 months with their mothers to learn the skills necessary to survive in the wild.

“Each rescue comes at a significant cost, ranging from $18,000 to $20,000 per month per mountain lion for veterinary and ongoing care, something many people may not realize,” Nikki Van Ausdall, Chief Communications and Engagement Officer at the Oakland Zoo, told WAN.