![\"Olive](\"http:\/\/www.socalwild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/BurbankCub3.jpg\")
<\/a>Olive and her brother Leno were rescued in the \u201cnick of time.\u201d Photo couresty of the California Wildlife Center.<\/div>\nThe 3-month old cubs were only 9 and 11 pounds when they arrived at the facility a little more than a year ago. Now, they are packing in between 75 -80 pounds, a more adequate weight for carnivorous cats.<\/p>\n
![\"Olve](\"http:\/\/www.socalwild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Olive_older.jpg\")
<\/a>Olive \u2014 in between cub and cat. Photo courtesy of Zoo To You.<\/div>\nThey were first named Olive and Magnolia (Burbank streets, dontcah know) until it was discovered that Magnolia was a boy.\u00a0 Now known as Olive and Leno (yes, after Jay Leno whose Tonight Show tapes in beautiful downtown Burbank), the not-so-cubby cats spend a good chunk of their days working with trainers and resolving trust issues.\u00a0 It\u2019s hoped the duo will become traveling educational ambassadors, taking the mantel from the facilities\u2019 two other \u201celderly\u201d cougars that are 15 years old.<\/p>\n
Training is \u201ca long process and with large cats, we usually start when they are only a few days or weeks old,\u201d explains Cottle. \u201cWith these cubs being three months old, we are working through a lot of fears they have \u2013 fear of being killed, being eaten, starving. These two still have that \u2018fight\u2019 in them, but we are making very good progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Olive](\"http:\/\/www.socalwild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Olive_not-so-cubby.jpg\")
<\/a>Olive growing up. \u201cWhat? I\u2019m not in Burbank anymore?\u201d Photo courtesy of Zoo to You.<\/div>\nConsider the plight of the three trainers who work with the cats \u2013 everything is positive reinforcement which means praising and acknowledging good behavior and totally ignoring bad behavior. \u201cSo when the cats, claw or bite you, you just have to ignore it. You can\u2019t react when they do that,\u201d says Cottle. \u201cThat can be really hard to do when they are in attack mode.\u201d Soon, the cats will realize they aren\u2019t \u201cgetting a rise\u201d out of the human and decide to do something else\u2026something that may get them a treat or other goodies.<\/p>\n
![\"Training](\"http:\/\/www.socalwild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Olive_Mountain-Lion1.jpg\")
<\/a>Training Olive. Always positive reinforcement. Photo courtesy of Zoo To You.<\/div>\nScientists have DNAed the duo\u2019s mother and father as part of a small contingency of mountain lions that live in and around the Verdugo Mountains near Burbank.\u00a0 Camera traps in that area snap and record wildlife; researchers were excited about a video recorded only a few weeks before the cubs were discovered in Burbank. They thought the images were of the brother sister pair.<\/p>\n
But, it turns out, that video captured yet but another pair<\/strong> <\/a>of cubs foraging the hillsides. \u201cScientists were just blown away by that,\u201d says Cottle. \u201cIt just goes to show that wildlife is right here in our own backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n Olive and Leno\u2019s journey is the subject of a documentary crew which is using the cat\u2019s story to illustrate the bigger picture of mountain lions living in and around dense urban areas, like Los Angeles.\u00a0 (See sidebar on David Elkins and Elkins Eye Visuals<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) estimates that there are between 4,000 \u2013 6,000 mountain lions in California; <\/a>they are not endangered, but they\u2019re considered a \u201cspecially protected species\u201d and cannot be hunted.<\/p>\n Mountain lions are the ultimate boogie-man of urban predators. They are painted as the vicious creatures that stalk the shadows for hikers on the trail, children in playgrounds, old people at the bus stop, or pampered pets in backyards.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"http:\/\/www.socalwild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/OliveToday.jpg\")
<\/a>Olive today. Not a scrawny cub anymore. Photo courtesy of Zoo To You.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"