Two very young, orphaned mountain lion siblings were rescued and transported to Oakland Zoo yesterday morning by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) following their search for the kittens, which started yesterday morning. An adult female mountain lion, who CDFW suspects is their mother, was struck by a car and killed on Saturday, November 11th, along Highway 280, near the Hillsboro/Burlingame area. Over the weekend, residents reported seeing two cubs alone near the area, and they were found safe in one of the reporting residents’ backyard. Both kittens are female, approximately six to ten weeks old, and weigh five and five-and-a-half pounds, respectively. These kittens mark the 25th and 26th mountain lion rescues as part of the Zoo’s Rescue and Recovery Program for local wildlife in need.

On Sunday at 9 PM, Mei, a white-handed gibbon, became a first-time mother.

Oakland, CA – May 31, 2023… Oakland Zoo is celebrating the arrival of its newest resident, a white-handed gibbon baby, born this past weekend to parents Mei (female, age 12) and Rainier (male, age 11). Animal care staff observed, via live cam, as Mei began laboring at 3 PM on Sunday in the gibbon’s nighthouse. Six hours later, she successfully gave birth and immediately began demonstrating excellent maternal care by cradling and nursing her newborn baby. The delivery comes after a four-year-long courtship between Mei and Rainier, both as first-time parents who were introduced at Oakland Zoo after coming from other AZA-accredited zoos in 2019. Gibbons mate for life, and pairs become closely bonded, vocalizing duets in the mornings.

Extremely ill and suffering from life-threatening health issues, the bear cub is now undergoing rehabilitation efforts at Oakland Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital

Oakland, CA – November 14, 2022…An orphaned black bear cub, estimated to be eight months old and weighing 28 pounds, was brought to Oakland Zoo last Friday night by wildlife biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).  The cub is very sick and suffering from multiple health issues, including a severe skin infection that has caused extreme hair loss, pneumonia, a viral infection, internal parasites, and a deeply infected bone in his left front foot, causing lameness in walking. 

Rose and Sage have arrived! 😻 We are thrilled to share that Rose and Sage, the rescued mountain lions from the Oakland Zoo, have arrived safely and are settling in at their new home at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Both cats were calm throughout the first evening and are already acclimating to their new surroundings. "Through our camera monitoring, we observed expected behaviors including drinking, grooming, exploring, and sleeping,” noted Heather Down, Animal Care Curator of The Living Desert. “Rose and Sage will remain behind-the-scenes for about a week, as they get accustomed to their new environment and the animal care team builds a relationship with them.” Once they are comfortable, the dynamic duo will be introduced into the mountain lion habitat in Eagle Canyon. “We are so excited to welcome Rose and Sage to The Living Desert,” said RoxAnna Breitigan, Director of Animal Care. “These cats have such an amazing story, and we are honored to be part of their next chapter. We are so proud of our colleagues at the Oakland Zoo for the exemplary care and dedication to the wellbeing of these amazing animals.” Welcome to your fur-ever home, Rose and Sage!

The cats have left the building….we repeat….the cats have left the building…

Rose and Sage, the two orphaned mountain lion rescues Oakland Zoo has been taking care of for several months at their veterinary hospital, have left Oakland Zoo and are on their way to their “furrever home,” The Living Desert in Palm Desert, California.

Officials are sad to see this pair leave, but grateful they were able to rehabilitate them, help them find a permanent home (and each other!)

They’ve offered big thanks to their wildlife rescue partner California Department of Fish and Wildlife, without whom these rescues would not be possible.

Oakland Zoo is committed to Taking Action to reduce human-wildlife conflict, an ongoing issue that Rose & Sage will represent to the many visitors who will experience their beauty in person at The Living Desert, and the thousands of you who have already been touched by their story.

More about Oakland Zoo’s work rescuing and rehabilitating mountain lions:

https://www.oaklandzoo.org/wildlife-conservation/mountain-lions

Oakland Zoo’s pair of Southern Pudu have welcomed a fawn to their family -- a male, born August 7.

The following day, Vet and Animal Care staff did an exam and found that he is doing well. They’ve observed the fawn nursing on several occasions, and he has been taking very short trips around the habitat with Mom. Animal Care staff will continue to monitor the family closely to make sure everyone is staying happy and healthy.

Oakland Zoo’s vet team examined Rose on Thursday and she is looking really good! She now weighs over 12 pounds (she was only 8 lbs when she arrived). She's eating 5 times a day, which is great! No other concerns found during her exam, and now that she's getting more active, they’ll try to move her out of ICU into a proper stall soon. Here's Hospital Keeper Nikki giving Rose some happy scratching. This is a safe way to give her some attention and help her see that touch can be a positive thing. Learn about Rose at ZooBorns.com: https://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2022/04/orphaned-mountain-lion-cub-spotted-by-hikers-in-san-mateo-rescued-after-five-day-search.html

First spotted last Tuesday by hikers, wildlife biologists and game wardens from the Midpeninsula Open Space District and California Department of Fish and Wildlife set up cameras and patrolled the area daily to rescue the emaciated female cub. Success was reached yesterday when she was found by the team(s) and immediately brought to Oakland Zoo for much needed medical treatment and rehabilitation.

OAKLAND, CA – April 11, 2022…Already named ‘Rose’ by her Oakland Zoo care givers, the four- to five-month-old female cub was found in the nick of time based on her critical medical condition upon arrival at the Zoo’s veterinary hospital around 3PM on Sunday, according to Oakland Zoo veterinarians. Extremely emaciated, Rose weighs only 8.8 pounds, and at her estimated age, a healthy female mountain lion should weigh around 30 pounds. 

MORE PHOTOS AND HOW TO HELP BELOW THE FOLD!

The suffering American White pelican was sighted at Oakland’s Lake Merritt several times over the past two weeks. Oakland residents called the Zoo to help catch and treat the bird.

Oakland, CA – October 28, 2021… Yesterday afternoon Oakland Zoo received and responded to a call from distressed citizens visiting Lake Merritt, reporting a pelican suffering from a large fishhook lodged into its throat as well as fishing line encircling its neck and bill. The improperly disposed of fishing gear had been preventing the animal from being able to eat or drink for weeks.

Exciting Captain Cal update from Oakland Zoo! Today Captain Cal finally ventured out of his crate (still bandaged heavily but walking)! He walked up to the partition between himself and the other two orphaned mountain lion cubs (females) that were also rescued from the Zogg Fire.

Based on their first meeting, this looks to be a great bond the 3 will form with each other! It’s sad that they ended up in the situation they have because of the devastating fire, but we are so happy that Captain Cal now has these two girls to grow up with for companionship and comfort.

Very soon the partition will be removed; it’s part of the introduction process that occurs in two phases. We anesthetized him to change his bandages today and the burned pads are improving daily. We’re very optimistic and happy!

Follow Captain's chronicles here: https://www.oaklandzoo.org/blog/captain-cal