Artemis

Female Cougar
10/1/05 – 1/26/20

January 26, 2020, Artemis Cougar has been euthanized. When she was reported as vomiting and not eating, Dr. Justin Boorstein decided to come in today (1/26/20), instead of waiting another day. We are glad he did. Her blood work showed her kidney disease to be absolutely off the charts and her x-rays showed them to be small and mineralized which further confirmed that this was a chronic condition and not one she could recover from.

This photo is how many of us will always remember her. Even though she and her brothers were born in 2005, they have always been known here as the cubs. Thank you, everyone, who gave her a second chance back then, when a hunter killed her mom, and all of the love she’s known here. You can post tributes to her at the bottom of this page.

Sleepy Artemis dreams of being back with her mother.

Artemis’ Story

Artemis is the serious sister and the more aloof of the three cubs. She is very sweet and loves her brothers, but she tends to be a bit of a loner at times. Artemis also goes by the nickname of “Baby” among the Keeper Volunteers.

A mother mountain lion had been shot by a hunter leaving her three newborn kittens orphans. A rehabber had been given temporary custody of three cougar cubs by Idaho’s Fish and Game Department and three weeks to find them a home in a zoo or to euthanize them. The idea of these magnificent creatures ending up in a zoo where they would be bred for generation after generation of imprisoned animals was more than she could bear.

She visited our web site and was asking herself if death might be more humane than life in a cage but before she made such a decision she contacted Big Cat Rescue. After more than twenty years in her business of rescuing, rehabbing and releasing native wildlife she was no stranger to tough choices, but this one was particularly hard. Because Idaho does not allow big cats to be rehabbed and released they could never go free. If the choice was made for them to live in an accredited facility then how would their sacrifice (life in a cage) be used to stop their kind from enduring persecution by man?

In the end, it was decided that the cubs would come to Big Cat Rescue because we can make their story known. Our supporters are active in trying to change the laws that allow animal suffering. These three little orphans are symbolic of why we write letters, donate our time and do all that we do. Visit the page called Cat Laws to help.

See the Rescue of the Three Cubs at the end of this video.

Medical Update 9/15/2016: Artemis isn’t eating well.  It’s looking like we will bring in Artemis Cougar for a dental and full-body exam 9/20-21st probably after 4 PM.