Meet Our Cougar Siblings

Written by Melissa Barr, Zoo Keeper, North Carolina Zoo

Our two cougars, Heath and Olive, have called the North Carolina Zoo home since March 2014. As part of a trio of siblings, they arrived from the airport one snowy night and I was waiting to pick them up. I still remember their cries as they were transferred to the vehicle to drive them to their new home. It was instant love!

Sadly, their story doesn’t start so well. These three kittens were orphaned in the wild in Oregon. A hunter legally killed the mother before he knew that she had kittens.

Fortunately, he did the right thing by following her footprints to the den and alerting the proper authorities. The three tiny kittens were only a few days old, so they needed to be reared by humans. Staff at the Oregon Zoo worked shifts to provide proper care as they were required to be bottle-fed at all day and night hours. They were weaned and made a special trip to the North Carolina Zoo at a few months old.

The three kittens were a joy to be around as they explored and gained confidence together. Watching them wrestle, play, and chase each other was so much fun. After expending all that energy, they would often pile up together to nap. Those big blue eyes and spotted coats slowly faded over their first year of life.

Heath, Olive, and Willow began to get bigger and we knew we did not have the space to keep them all at the Zoo. It was a hard decision to figure out which cougar would eventually go to another facility. When we heard there was a male cougar a few months younger at another facility that could use a buddy, we had a plan!

This other male cougar, named Syd, was orphaned when he was a few months old and was leery of people. We decided that Willow would be the best choice to pair with Syd, as she was the most outgoing and boldest of all. This turned out to be the purrfect pair! Willow helped Syd become more trusting of his caregivers and they are happy together.

Heath and Olive are the dynamic brother and sister pair we currently provide care for here at the Zoo.

Heath is a bit larger at around 145 pounds, while Olive is about 110 pounds. They are both very vocal towards their keepers, making various chirps and meows to get our attention. Heath is more laid-back, loves to play with his toys, and tears cardboard boxes into tiny shreds with his teeth. Olive is a little shy especially around new people, but a natural hunter as she is very attentive to the wildlife around. Olive loves showing off her awesome jumping skills when we place a ball high above the habitat glass.

Seeing the cougars at the Zoo can be an amazing experience… if you catch them when they are not sleeping.

As the largest cat that can purr, people sometimes think it would be a good idea to have one pet. But, seeing them up close helps people realize just how large their feet are and how dangerous they can be. As the second largest cat in North America, cougars are ambush predators that are capable of taking down animals that are larger than themselves. Keeping any large carnivore as a pet could endanger human life.