Three abandoned Utah cougar kittens have not only been rescued, but they've moved to the Big Apple.
According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, a hunter spotted the kittens in a den on the north slope of the Uintas last week and alerted authorities. DWR biologists set up cameras and monitored the den for 48 hours, but the kittens’ mother never returned.
Concerned that the kittens — thought to be about six weeks old — would freeze to death as temperatures dropped, DWR biologists picked them up and transported them to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, where they were cared for over the weekend.
Hogle does not, however, have facilities for three kittens, so zoo personnel went looking for another facility that does. And the healthy cougar youngsters were transported to the Bronx Zoo in New York City.
If they can make it there … they’ll be fine.
Follow @ScottDPierce