Orphaned Idaho cougar cubs now call Grandfather Mountain home

LINVILLE, N.C. — Grandfather Mountain has recently become the new home for two orphaned cougar cubs.

The cubs, a brother and sister, were found on an Idaho man’s property in January, emaciated and searching for food. They had another brother but he died a few days after the trio were found.

Idaho Fish and Game determined the cubs had been orphaned and were unable to fend for themselves in the wild.

“We don’t know what happened to their mom,” said Christie Tipton, chief animal curator for Grandfather Mountain. “They were found wandering around a neighborhood, looking for food, because they aren’t big enough to successfully catch their own.”

Shortly after they were found, Tipton received a call from a contact with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, who knew Grandfather Mountain was looking for new cougars for its environmental wildlife habitats.

“We heard about these guys, and we were lucky enough to be able to give them a home,” Tipton said.

With the help of philanthropist Bob Wilson and his wife Susan, the park was able to fly the cubs on a private plane back to North Carolina.

“The cubs didn’t like it when we’d go near them,” Tipton said of the flight. “Lots of hissing and spitting when we were next to them, but when given their space, they were sitting there as cool as can be. They handled it really, really well.”

The cubs landed at Foothills Regional Airport in Morganton on March 4, before being driven to Grandfather Mountain in Linville.

The siblings, who officials believe to be about 7 months old, were then released into temporary living quarters for quarantine, pending the results of a health check conducted by the Idaho state veterinarian.

Tipton said the cats appear to be in good health, with the male weighing in at 48 pounds and the female at 32.

It could be some time before they’re seen by the public though, as renovations to the habitat need to be finished.

“We’ve never had a clawed cougar in the habitat before,” Tipton said, “so we’re going to raise up the rock walls, cut down a few trees and upgrade a holding area to the side of the habitat.”

The habitat is currently home to Aspen, a 12-year-old, 134-pound Western cougar. Because of their age gap and the fact that the cubs have claws, while Aspen does not, it’s unlikely the three will be placed in the habitat together, but rather rotate their time there.

The cubs aren’t used to being around humans either, so revealing them to the public might be delayed even longer.

“They’re very nervous, and they’ve had very limited human contact,” Tipton said. “It could take a while before they’re used to being around people, maybe more than the three to four months we are anticipating. It all depends on how quickly they come around.”

Grandfather Mountain staff contributed to this article.

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