An injured mountain lion cub found on a Castaic roadway last week was on the mend, the Mountain Lion Foundation stated Sunday.
The lion cub was found with an injured paw, crouching in the middle of a roadway in the area of Hillcrest Parkway and Olympic Street on Jan. 22.
California Fish and Wildlife officials were notified and caught the cub. Officials confirmed it was a juvenile female mountain lion, and transferred her to a veterinarian, then the Los Angeles Zoo.
After being cared for at the zoo, the cub was flown to Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue for continued care and rehabilitation. Veterinarians reported she was in stable condition with just a small cut on one paw and slightly underweight.
The CDFW Rescue searched for the cub’s mother but was unable to locate her. The only other mountain lion in the area was a solitary male adult, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation.
Since the cub was determined to be just 4 or 5 months old, experts determined she should be rehabilitated alongside another cub before she was old enough to return to her natural habitat.
The cub was initially captured on video about 1 a.m. Wednesday. The animal remained motionless on the asphalt for a time before eventually running off.
California Highway Patrol officers had blocked traffic while the cub was in the roadway.
Residents reported seeing two other mountain lions, one believed to be the cub’s mother, in the area.
The cub’s disappearance raised concerns about its welfare but by Wednesday afternoon, CDFW shared video showing the animal being captured after a search that lasted several hours.