Acrobatic wildlife officers rescue two cougar cubs [Video]

It wasn’t an ordinary day at work for two wildlife officers in Colorado. Workers were readying to send water down the Vallecito Reservoir spillway near Durango when someone noticed something out of place. Two mountain lion cubs were down in the spillway. Yeah, cats can swim, but the spillway is no “kitty pool.” Two wildlife officers got a fresh assignment. Rescue two cougar cubs!

Acrobatic tricks required to rescue two cougar cubs

Video footage shows the acrobatic tricks the two wildlife officers underwent to pull the mountain lions up out of the spillway. A press release from the Pine River Irrigation District details the issue.

“The first mountain lion held onto the rope all the way to the top of the spillway barrier and quickly ran off into the woods. The second lion, however, wouldn’t hold onto the rope and ran down the spillway all the way to where the Los Pinos River continues below the dam,” it said. “Unwilling to swim to reach the bank, the young lion continued to pace around at the water’s edge and moved into a corner of the spillway.”

The only recourse? One of the wildlife officers had to go down into the spillway and figure out how to get the cat interested in taking the rope. Perhaps he offered to play cat’s cradle.

“With the lion interested in the rope, CPW staff were also able to use a catch pole and all together we lifted the lion over the concrete wall and quickly released it. However, the lion decided to hide under a truck for a few minutes,” says a statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

“After everyone backed off and it took time to regroup, the young lion ran off in the same direction as its sibling,” CPW added.

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