Photos: Yearling mountain lions rescued from dam's spillway

DENVER (KDVR) — Two yearling mountain lions were saved from drowning on Friday at Vallecito Reservoir in Colorado, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Southwest Regional office.

The agency said Mike Canterbury, the dam tender with Pine River Irrigation District, was going to release water from the reservoir down the spillway when he saw two young mountain lions trapped by the spillway's high walls.

Canterbury called CPW and Wildlife Officer Ty Smith responded. Smith discussed options with Canterbury and irrigation district Superintendent Ken Beck, and the district allowed CPW onto the hydroelectric plant property to try and rescue the lions.

Smith said he was not sure if he would have to sedate the mountain lions through a dart, or if they would come out another way. The wildlife officer was given a rope, which he dangled in front of the kittens for them to grab onto, allowing him to lift one out.

That first mountain lion held onto the rope until it reached the top of the spillway barrier, where it ran off into the woods. However, the second lion ran down the spillway to where the Los Pinos River continues below the dam.

"Unwilling to swim to reach the bank, the young lion continued to pace around at the water’s edge and moved into a corner of the spillway," CPW said on social platform X.

According to CPW, Smith wanted to avoid darting the feline, so he climbed down onto the spillway with the rope, "hoping to find a way to free the lion." Like most cats, it was interested in the rope, and other CPW staff used a catch pole to lift the lion over the concrete wall and release it.

That was not the end of the ordeal: Instead of running into the woods, the kitten hid under a truck for a few minutes before deciding to follow its sibling into the woods.

"We thank Beck and Canterbury for delaying the dam release and reporting this to give CPW a chance to rescue them," CPW said in its social posts.