Cougar kitten named at Zoo Idaho in Pocatello

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) – The City of Pocatello held a naming contest for the new cougar kitten at Zoo Idaho as a fundraiser for her habitat, which raised $3000 for renovations. On Friday, a crowd gathered outside the enclosure for Mayor Dahlquist to announce the winning name of the zoo's new addition.

The contest was down to three names: Roxanne, Purrsephone, and Clawdia. The Mayor invited Caleb, a young student in the community, to announce the name, as he was "Mayor for the Day" on July 17. Caleb had spent the morning with Mayor Dahlquist at the Water Treatment Plant, a senior living center ribbon cutting and then the zoo for the name announcement.

"In your loudest voice, tell us the name of the new young cougar," the Mayor said.

"Roxanne!" Caleb announced to the cheering crowd.

Roxanne arrived at Zoo Idaho with two other orphaned cougar kittens from Wyoming. Upon arrival, all three were diagnosed with a deadly virus called feline panleukopenia. Roxanne is a miracle kitten with a story of resilience, as through intensive vetrinarian care, she is the only surviving cougar.

"She is quite a fighter," said Shelby Maris, lead zookeeper at Zoo Idaho. "We were very excited to see her live and now to see her thrive."

Zoo Idaho is a rescue facility and provides care for orphaned and injured wildlife. Roxanne will live out the rest of her life under the care of experts at Zoo Idaho.

Maris said the best part of her job is getting to know the animals' personalities. "She is very feisty, she is small but mighty," Maris said. "She definitely likes to tell you that she's not afraid of you. It's fun to watch her develop and grow as she gets bigger and more confident."

The donations through the naming competition will go towards renovations and upgrades to Roxanne's habitat. Maris said they will install some large enrichment items for her like a waterfall as well as more grass and dirt. The zookeepers hope that she will come out of the enclosure and explore in her new space.

Zoo Idaho previously had a full grown cougar named Sinbad. Maris said having cougars in the zoo is always a highlight for both the zookeepers and the community.

"It's really cool to see them up close, whereas you probably wouldn't even see them in the wild, so I think they're a fun animal to see," Maris said. "They're also fun to do enrichment for because they have that prey drive to attack things."

Sinbad was fully trained to the point he could do voluntary blood draws with Maris as his primary keeper and trainer. She said the goal is to get Roxanne to that level as well, with one of the full-time keepers already working hard to train the young cougar.

For now, if you visit Zoo Idaho to see Roxanne, there's a chance she won't come out to the exhibit area of her habitat.

"She's pretty timid right now," Maris explained. "She just got access to her whole exhibit recently, but she's still getting used to it. Hopefully, as she gets bigger, she'll gain more confidence and come out for people to see her more."

She sometimes "peekaboo's" through the doors to the den near the top of her habitat. Maris said the zookeepers know she's been exploring at night by looking at her footprints in the mud.

Zoo Manager Peter Pruett said it could take a few seasons for Roxanne to be fully comfortable with the number of people passing by near her habitat and come down to see them.