Latest news with #SantaAnaMountains
CBS News
29-06-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Mountain lion released into Santa Ana Mountains after rehabbing from near-death collision with vehicle
A young mountain lion was nursed back to health and released into the wild this month after surviving a brutal collision with a vehicle in Southern California. The San Diego Humane Society announced the good news on Sunday, about five months after the big cat was hit by a vehicle in January. It received emergency care at Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Orange County. The mountain lion, now 10 months old, suffered from a skull fracture, head and eye trauma and lameness in his left hind leg, the Humane Society said. It treated the animal starting on Jan. 15. On June 17, it was released back into the Santa Ana Mountains. "This is the moment we all work toward — seeing a wild animal return to where they belong," said Autumn Welch, Wildlife Operations Manager at San Diego Humane Society's Ramona Wildlife Center. "Our job is to provide medical care while preserving the animal's wild instincts, so they have the best possible chance at surviving on their own." The Humane Society said the treatment focused on pain management and nutritional support for the first several weeks, before moving him to an outdoor enclosure to prepare for life back in the wild. The decision to move him back into the mountains was made after 153 days, where he reached a healthy weight of about 60 pounds and demonstrated "natural survival behaviors."
CBS News
13-05-2025
- CBS News
Videos capture the return of Orange County mountain lion named "Newport"
Wildlife cameras have captured what appears to be the return of a mountain lion nicknamed "Newport," that was caught on camera creating chaos in Orange County three years ago. The big cat was spotted running through the parking lot of an Irvine shopping center, swimming in Lake Mission Viejo and sauntering through Newport Beach back in 2022. Since then, he hasn't really been spotted, at least not knowingly. Now, years later, it appears that Newport has returned to Orange County, though the newest videos show him in a much more fitting habitat, as he explores the Santa Ana Mountains and the surrounding area. He was officially sighted on May 7, where he briefly stops to rub his face on some branches before inspecting the camera. "So Newport for some reason, his face seems to always be itchy," said Mark Girardeau. "Every time he finds a stick where we have cameras, he just gets super into it and just itches himself and he just loves a good little massage." Girardeau and Rachel Devloud are wildlife photographers who purchased a series of cameras typically intended for hunters. They installed them, however, to monitor nature. So far they've put up about 50 cameras, and once a week they hike along the Santa Ana Mountain trails to retrieve footage, which they then share on their Facebook group called "Orange County Outdoors." They have clips of skunks, deer, opossums, foxes, raccoons and mountain lions, including Newport. "Just a hobby, we do this for fun. Rachel and I just go out there and it's very entertaining for us," Girardeau said. "It's also nice because we can educate the public about the mountain lions, because there's so much fear about them."
