Safe travels beautiful boy – March 2023
Losing any of our precious wildcats is heartbreaking but sometimes the hurt feels overwhelming. Noni was with us for 20 years, one of the bravest and most intelligent cougars we’ve ever had the privilege to know. While there is some comfort is knowing that is now reunited with his brother Neko, we are still reeling from his passing.
Noni and Neko arrived together back in 2003. Noni was a small and sickly cub, half the size of his robust brother. But with care and patience and love, Noni grew to be a strong, healthy cougar. He and Neko were best buddies and enjoyed many years of brotherly hijinks.
When we lost Neko in 2020 we worried about Noni living alone but he took it in stride and never gave us a reason to think he was unhappy. The keepers made it a point to spend time with him and made sure he had plenty of enrichment to keep him occupied.
But over the past few months we could see that age was catching up with him and it was getting harder for him to move around. When he let us know it was time, he was helped peacefully into his next journey by Dr. Jacobs while being surrounded but the people who cared for him most. 💔
Losing Noni has been incredibly hard but knowing he’s been released from the captive world he lived in gives us comfort in spite of the heartbreak we all feel.
Safe travels beautiful boy. We will hold the time you shared with us in our hearts now and forever.
