Safe Haven Wildlife Sanctuary, located in northern Nevada, provides lifelong care to abandoned, surrendered and confiscated exotics and native wildlife.
This past January, we received a call for two orphaned cougar cubs that a couple discovered on their property. They waited several days to see if the mother returned, but unfortunately she never did. This particular area of Nevada is well-known for hunting cougars and she was most likely killed.
The cubs weighed only sixteen pounds each and were approximately two months old. Orphaned cubs can sometimes be rehabilitated and released back to the wild, but only under the tutelage of very experienced cougar rehabilitation facilities. Otherwise, they risk starvation.
Since there are no qualified cougar rehabilitators in the state of Nevada, and Nevada does not allow the exportation of cougars to other states, their only option was permanent sanctuary placement.
We were planning on initiating a naming auction to help raise funding toward their care and the construction of a new 10,000 square foot habitat to provide lots of room for both females as they will receive lifelong care.
Tigers in America has generously supported numerous Safe Haven rescues and projects and decided that they would name the cubs Melanie and Joan in honor of Melanie Anderson and Joan Casey of the Summerlee Foundation for their many years of commitment and dedication toward animal welfare.