Two rescued mountain lion cubs can now be seen at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
The 7-month-old brothers have been in Tucson since April. They came to Arizona after being found alone near the Washington–Idaho border with no sign of their mother. It was determined they were too young to survive in the wild.
The cubs underwent veterinary evaluations and an acclimation process to help them transition to their new desert home.
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Mountain lions are native to the Sonoran Desert and are an important part of the desert ecosystem, said Shawnee Riplog-Peterson, the curator of mammalogy and ornithology at the museum.
Two rescued mountain lion cubs can now be seen at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
“The addition of these cubs represents another step in the Museum’s mission to connect people with nature while fostering a greater understanding of the role predators play in maintaining healthy ecosystems,” Riplog-Peterson said in a news release.
The cubs' exhibit lets visitors observe them engaging in their natural behavior, like climbing and exploring. Because they are cubs and still adapting to their environment, activity levels may vary during the day, the release said.
Cruz, the Desert Museum's sole mountain lion for 13 years, was put down in November due to ongoing medical issues.
The cubs can be visited at the Mountain Woodland Exhibit during regular hours. Summer hours for the museum are from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays.
