The surviving pair of cougar kittens spotted under a bench in Thousand Oaks are doing very well, playing a lot and eating five times a day. according to news reports.
The girls were found November 29 under a picnic bench in Thousand Oaks, but the mother of the two girls, and two that did not survive, was nowhere to be found. Workers at an office building near the picnic bench notified state wildlife authorities, who partnered with the National Park Service to monitor the kittens. Biologists tracked the kittens, built a makeshift den and set up a trail camera in a vain hope that the mother would return and the kittens would grow up as wild animals.
By December 2 the kittens, who had been judged alert and basically healthy despite being skinny and a little dehydrated, were not doing very well and one showed signs of serious illness. Authorities then took them to a vet hospital, where two of them died, and then on to the Orange County Zoo where they will be housed in a new large mammal enclosure under construction.
At the zoo they are eating a smoothie 5 times a day described as kitten milk and chicken. They play with toys and each other and spend a lot of time together.
Because Covid-19 is a threat to wild cats the veterinarian staff takes special precautions and they will eventually be given shots of a wild feline specific Covid vaccine.