At least two of a three-cub mountain lion litter are giving local biologists reason to be excited after they were filmed four months into their lives.
The cubs are believed to belong to a female who had been tracked after she gave birth to three kittens back in April, according to researchers with Audubon Canyon Ranch, a non-profit preservation and educational center in Glen Ellen.
Dr. Quinton Martins, the project lead with ACR, set up a camera near an adult buck found neatly cached in a thicket of manzanita, poison oak and blackberry bushes, excited to hopefully find out how well the kittens were fairing after their birth.
The footage retrieved revealed that two of the three kittens had survived to the four-month mark, researchers said.
The discovery was met with much optimism as survival rates for mountain lions in the area are often around 50 percent, according to researchers.
ACR officials noted Martins and other researchers will continue to monitor the cubs' progress and continue tracking the mother's collar in the hopes of getting a closer look in the coming months.
It's expected the mother lion's tracking collar will need new batteries in about a month or two.
Researchers also noted it was "fantastic to see (the mother cougar) doing so well considering she is about 11 years of age, which is old for a wild mountain lion."