Simba the Puma

Name: Simba Species: Puma (Puma concolor)Age: approximately 5 years oldSimba was born sometime around March 2002. Originally named Gato, the volunteers changed his name to Simba. His first home was with a family in La Paz who kept him for two months during which he fractured the femur of his back right leg. A second family in Cochabamba was asked to take care of Simba by the first family because they were unable to care for him in his injured state. They kept him in a little dog cage and didn't feed him properly (no milk for example). After two months the second family was unable to keep Simba due to his larger size and playful behavior and so at the age of 5 months they gave him to Juan Carlos.
There was no good place for him when he arrived so they put him in a little cage (1.5 m x 1.5 m) near the casa, with all the trails shared with other cats and tourists. The lack of proper nutrition caused Simba to limp a little but once he was at the refuge the vet gave him calcium supplements in order to fix the problem. After a few setbacks a new cage was built in the forest with his own trails, far away from the people.
Simba is the most unpredictable cat at the refuge. There are days he just wants to walk and then there are days he doesn't even want to leave his cage. He is unpredictable with his behavior as well. Simba is also known at the refuge as the cat who can’t stop sucking his blanket and as "the Licking Machine" - he can lick his volunteers till they bleed (since cats tongue is so rough).
In order to volunteer with Simba you need to be confident and fit since he has the most difficult trails of all the cats.