Cougar Rescued From Bronx Apartment, Headed To Arkansas Sanctuary

NEW YORK CITY — An 11-month-old cougar is en route to an Arkansas animal sanctuary after she was rescued from a Bronx home on Thursday night.

The cougar, a female who weighs approximately 80 pounds, was cared for by veterinarians and animal care staff at the Bronx Zoo over the weekend after her owners voluntarily surrendered her, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a news release.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the NYPD assisted in the cat's transportation to the zoo. The cougar's final destination will be Turpentine Creek, an accredited conservation site where she will receive lifelong care.

Kelly Donithan, director of animal disaster response for the Humane Society of the United States, was on scene with the cougar and facilitated the transport. She said the incident serves as a reminder that cougars cannot be kept as pets.

"This cougar is relatively lucky that her owners recognized a wild cat is not fit to live in an apartment or any domestic environment," Donithan said in a statement. "The owner’s tears and nervous chirps from the cougar as we drove her away painfully drives home the many victims of this horrendous trade and myth that wild animals belong anywhere but the wild."

The case is currently under investigation, and no further information is currently available, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said.

Big cats in the exotic pet trade often end up in "very bad situations" where they are kept by private individuals who don't have the resources, facilities, knowledge or expertise to provide for their basic needs, Jim Breheny, director of the Bronx Zoo and executive VP of the Wildlife Conservation Society Zoos & Aquarium, said in a statement.

"At the Bronx Zoo, we were glad to assist the agencies working to rescue this cougar and provide care and housing for her until her transfer," Breheny said. "We have long opposed the private ownership of big cats as pets. Big cats in the exotic pet trade make no contribution to the conservation of their species."