Overview

• Two male cubs were released on Sept. 18 onto public land north of Ramona after roughly six months of care, each weighing about 60 pounds.
• The pair was found malnourished near Poway in March and was trapped by UC Davis’s California Carnivores Program with state wildlife officials before transfer on March 26.
• Rehabilitation emphasized minimal human contact and survival training, including exposure to deer meat, feeding of live small prey, and use of visual barriers and camouflage.
• Before release, the lions were microchipped, tagged, and fitted with tracking collars to enable post-release monitoring and reduce human-wildlife conflict.
• San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center has treated 16 mountain lions since 2020 as conservation groups report lower statewide populations and ongoing threats from vehicles, habitat loss, and wildfires.