Under The Sun

A Lion Among Us by Kenny Malone

WLRN Miami Herald reporter and Under the Sun associate producer Kenny Malone recently interviewed Angel Pardo, the owner of a 16-year-old cougar named Kimba.  She’s one of just a few mountain lions licensed to live in residential areas in South Florida after new restrictions kicked in last August.

Malone’s piece helps us understand what it’s like having one as a pet, and as a neighbor.

In this web extra, he asks Pardo to explain how he ended up with a pet mountain lion in the first place.

How Kimba ended up in his backyard…

Malone also sent us a copy of the licensing form owners had to fill out to keep a mountain lion as a pet, before reclassification under the new law.   He writes: ”My favorite thing about this form is that page two looks like a Girl Scout cookie order form, but instead of Thin Mints and Tagalongs, it’s Cougars and Ocelots.”

Check out the forms by clicking here.

Under the new restrictions, Pardo can keep Kimba until she dies, but he can’t replace her when she dies.