A tiny, cute and endangered Southern Sierra Nevada fisher is on the path to recovery after being found malnourished and dehydrated near Yosemite National Park.
The 6-week-old kit was found after its mother died, killed by an unknown predator. The female fisher had been collared, so biologists from Yosemite National Park were able to locate her when her collar stopped signaling movement. Then, they found her den in a tree cavity, where the kit was nestled.
Now, staff with the National Park Service, Fresno Chaffee Zoo, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are helping the tiny orphan. The kit has shown “remarkable progress,” gaining weight rapidly and transitioning from bottle feeding to solid food.
The little creature will eventually be released back into the California wilderness, almost certainly with its own collar. Not much is known about this elusive species so the kit will one day provide valuable information to wildlife experts.
