Three cougar cubs captured in Winthrop are settling into their new home at The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minnesota.
3 orphaned cats captured in Winthrop
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story appeared online.
Three cougar kittens that were captured in downtown Winthrop last month have found a new “forever home” at The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minnesota.
The orphaned kittens are less than 6 months old and unable to survive in the wild without their mother, so placement in an accredited zoo or sanctuary was their only option for survival. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) found space for the kittens (also called cubs) at The Wildcat Sanctuary, located in a remote area of Minnesota about two hours north of the Twin Cities.
“We’re very thankful for the wildlife agents that worked so hard to find an accredited home for these orphaned kittens,” said Tammy Thies, founder and executive director of The Wildcat Sanctuary. “It’s a happy ending to a sad story. As a sanctuary, we are saddened when wild animals can’t remain wild.”
The young cougars were captured by WDFW officers during the third week of January after they were discovered hiding under a deck of a house at the end of Riverside Avenue, near River’s Edge Resort. After WDFW officers trapped the kittens in Winthrop, they were transported to Wenatchee where WDFW’s cougar and bear specialist, Rich Beausoleil, began looking for a zoo or sanctuary to take them in, and contacted The Wildcat Sanctuary.
‘Good outcome’
Thies said her sanctuary has worked with Beausoleil and WDFW on many occasions to find homes for more than a dozen orphaned cougars from Washington. WDFW only places the animals in zoos and sanctuaries that are accredited by Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Thies said her facility has taken some of the cats from Washington, and she has helped find homes in other sanctuaries for other young cougars.
Thies praised Beausoleil and WDFW for working hard “to find a good outcome” for orphaned cougars. “I work with fish and game around the country and I’ve never seen agencies go to the lengths they do get a good placement. I know they are compassionate people and they care about wildlife,” Thies said.
Generally, placement is sought in a zoo first, but if there is not space available in any accredited zoos, “they reach out to us,” Thies said. The Wildcat Sanctuary had a large enclosure available, and the three young kittens — two males and one female — arrived on Feb. 3.
It was not clear why the three juvenile cougars were on their own, although wildlife officials said it is possible that a female cougar that was killed earlier in the January by WDFW officers in downtown Winthrop could have been their mother. WDFW said the female was killed because she was in town and therefore posed a safety risk to people. DNA samples were taken from the adult female and the kittens, but the analysis has not been completed.
The cougars, which weigh about 40 pounds each, were flown by air cargo in a large metal crate on Delta Airlines from Seattle to Minneapolis. After their arrival, they were placed in an indoor quarantined area, to avoid possibly bringing infections into the sanctuary, and allowed to “settle in,” Thies said. This also gave them time to get used to the humans that feed and take care of them, she said.
On Feb. 11 they were sedated, and spayed and neutered. A veterinarian was expected to examine them on Tuesday (Feb. 18), and if they are fully recovered from the surgery and medical tests show them to be healthy, the kittens will be allowed access to an outdoor covered enclosure, Thies said.
Building trust
The cats will remain in the smaller indoor/outdoor enclosure for a few weeks “so they can build trust with their primary caretakers,” Thies said. That process includes learning to move into transport crates, where they are rewarded with food. Training the cats to enter crates or other enclosed areas is necessary to allow caretakers to safely enter their habitats for cleaning or maintenance, Thies said.
In late March or April, they are expeced to be released into a large, free-roaming habitat where “they’ll be able to live wild-at-heart,” Thies said. “These three will stay as a family unit as long as they behave well toward each other.” That communal living is positive for the cats. “It’s one way to have enrichment in captivity,” Thies said.
Since arriving at the sanctuary, the three kittens have spent much of the time huddling together. The young female, although the smallest kitten, “is the alpha of the group,” Thies said. “She’s feisty. She’ll tell us off with a big hiss.”
The cougars’ new home will be about 10,000 square feet, with grassy hills, pine trees, multi-level platforms to climb and cave structures, Thies said. “There is a lot of brush. It’s very different than a zoo environment. That’s good for wild-borns, which tend to be shy,” she said. The outdoor enclosure connects to indoor space that serves as a den and feeding area.
The three Washington cougars will be placed in a habitat that became available after three cougars died of old age over the past six years. The Wildcat Sanctuary is home to nine other wild-born cougars, all orphaned in the past decade. Cougars in captivity can be expected to live 18-20 years, and about 10-12 in the wild, Thies said.
The cats in the sanctuary are left on their own as much as possible, Thies said. “They will keep their wild instincts and prefer each other to us, which is what we want. Our biggest thing is that we want them to have a quality of life without us. If they can be neutral to us, that’s what we want,” Thies said.
Rescued cats
The Wildcat Sanctuary is not a public facility, she said. It has about 115 cats, including lions, tigers, leopards, African servals, bobcats, lynx and cougars. The majority are animals rescued from private owners who kept them as pets or in captivity. Some come from “deplorable facilities” such as roadside menageries or traveling exhibits, and some come from zoos that are closing or can no longer keep them, Thies said. The animals are primarily from the United States, but some have come from as far away as Argentina.
Thies said she expected to primarily take animals from other owners or facilities when she created the sanctuary, but has found there is a need to provide sanctuary to wild-born cats as well.
“It’s bittersweet, because I never thought we’d have to take in wild animals,” she said. “But at least these animals have never known abuse or neglect.”
Thies said some people question the decision to place orphaned cougars in a sanctuary. The sanctuary is not “an alternative to rehabilitation and release, it is an alternative to euthanasia,” Thies said. “These kittens are 4 to 6 months old and would not survive in the wild.”
Cougar kittens learn to hunt from their mother, and stay with their mother for up to two years for protection and to learn survival skills. WDFW officials said if the kittens were released they would most likely starve, get killed by another cougar, or get into trouble with humans by pursuing easy prey like domestic animals or pets.
The Wildcat Sanctuary asked the public to suggest names for the Washington kittens on the sanctuary’s Facebook page. Based on those suggestions, the female is named Rainier, and the males are named Tacoma and Quincy. More information about the sanctuary is available at WildcatSanctuary.org.
