Orphaned mountain lion kitten recovering at wildlife center

An orphaned mountain lion kitten, found near Sells, has been taken to Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center in Phoenix for care and rehabilitation.

The female kitten, about 6 months old, weighed only 13 pounds and should be closer to 30 pounds, said Anne Justice-Allen, a wildlife veterinarian with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

“It was found near Sells on the Tohono O’odham nation. It had been treed by dogs, and its litter mate was on the ground dead,” Justice-Allen said. “We have no idea what happened to its mother. We suspect she’s probably dead, but we don’t know for sure.”

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She said a staff member from the Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center went to Sells to pick up the animal on Wednesday, March 30.

“Mountain lion cubs aren’t something we normally keep there (at the center),” Justice-Allen said. “It primarily houses animals for educational purposes.

“If we get cubs, we try to place them in a suitable facility” such as a zoo or sanctuary, she said. “It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to release this animal into the wild because they get habituated to people.”