Warm and Fuzzy Arrivals to the N.C. Zoo

Let’s start the week with some warm and fuzzy news.

Three baby cougar cubs are the newest residents at the N.C. Zoo. The cougar cubs made a cross-country trip from Oregon where they were orphaned after a hunter killed their mother last year.

The hunter, a wildlife biologist, realized that he had shot a lactating mother cougar. He followed tracks in the snow to the family den, where he found the cubs. The cubs, one male and two female, were taken to the Oregon Zoo where zoo keepers helped ween the animals.

The cougars are about two months old. They are under a mandatory 30-day quarantine at the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro. After their adjustment period in quarantine, the fuzzy trio will grow up in the zoo’s Cypress Swamp complex.

The fuzzy cubs reportedly enjoy pouncing on their surrogate mom, a stuffed animal cheetah, and playing with one another. I haven’t read about any names for the three yet, but I’m sure that news is to come soon. Here’s a picture of the three, courtesy of the N.C. Zoo.