Can Two Orphaned 14 Month Old Mountain Lion Cubs Survive Orange County?

['Máximo Santana', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] Voice of OC 2025-09-19 12:58:00

The two orphaned cubs, estimated to be about 14 months old, are on their own, wandering the Orange County wilderness. Still, their biggest challenge is their own youthful curiosity, said Vickers, noting that young mountain lions are more likely to be curious about humans. Saving Mountain LionsThe UC Davis Carnivore Project was monitoring the mother, from February of 2024 until she died on Sept. 4th. “I-15 and 91 with the ocean on the other side pretty much isolate the Santa Ana mountain lions,” said UC Davis’ Vickers. In a previous version of this story, Dr. Winston Vickers was identified as the director of the UC Davis Mountain Lion Project.