Idaho
Cougar kitten named at Zoo Idaho in Pocatello – Local News 8
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.”
“She is very feisty, she is small but mighty,”
-Shelby Maris, Lead Zookeeper
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.
We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which
enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time.
For any issues, contact webmaster@journalnet.com or call 208-232-4161.
NORTHWEST BOISE, Idaho — The Boise River is considered the heart of the city for many folks — floating, fishing and the gorgeous scenery on the greenbelt all rely on the waterway.
That’s why the City of Boise closely monitors the river’s water quality and the treated wastewater returned to the river from its water renewal facilities.
“The biggest question we get from people who are pedestrians and bicyclists is what are you trying to catch?,” said Bryan Dufosse, Senior Environmental Specialist with the City of Boise.
He and his team are often seen on the bridges over the Boise River with a unique crane looking contraption that they use to collect a series of water samples across the river.
WATCH | See how the city’s enviromental team tests the water quality of the Boise River
How the City of Boise tests water samples to ensure the Boise River runs clean
The city collects samples from locations upstream and downstream from Boise’s water renewal plants to ensure their treatment systems are working properly.
“We’re from the beginning of the pipe to the end of the pipe, making sure that we’re not putting anything into the river that takes away from the river’s water quality,” Dufosse said.
He says the majority of the time their samples come back nice and clean.
“We don’t see heavy pollutants fortunately here. Normally the Boise river is pretty clean, it’s pretty clean because the city citizens and the City Of Boise care about the River,” Dufosse said.
The city still conducts extensive testing to monitor for pollutants and other contaminants like heavy metals or nutrients. Samples collected from the river are brought to a portable water testing lab they built inside a camper before they’re taken to the city’s full size lab.
“Now we are splitting the samples so we can take them back to the water quality lab and then Alex and the rest of the team will test them for heavy metals and pH and all that kind of stuff,” said Corrine Smith, Water Quality Environmental Technician with the City of Boise.
If unusually high levels of metals or pollutants are detected, the city reports the findings to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and works to identify the source.
The city’s water quality team tests the Boise River 52 weeks a year to ensure the water remains clean and healthy.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Send tips to neighborhood reporter Allie Triepke
Have a story idea from your neighborhood? Share it with Allie below —
-
Seattle, WA1 minute agoSeattle real estate owner sentenced to prison for $4.7 million tax evasion scheme – MyNorthwest.com
-
San Diego, CA7 minutes ago
San Diego’s 6-month streak of a falling jobless rate comes to an end
-
Milwaukee, WI13 minutes ago12-year-old injured in Milwaukee shooting, police seek information
-
Atlanta, GA19 minutes agoYou can watch the Atlanta United vs Nashville MLS match live for free tonight – Here’s how
-
Minneapolis, MN25 minutes agoMinneapolis man charged for driving at 2 Washington County campground workers
-
Indianapolis, IN31 minutes agoCanada wildfire smoke leads to air quality alerts for Sunday, Monday
-
Pittsburg, PA37 minutes agoAbandoned mini golf course in Westmoreland County getting new life
-
Augusta, GA43 minutes agoRichmond County traffic stop attempt leads to chase, rollover crash
