A mountain lion cub found alone on a Southern California roadway last week was transferred to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Sonoma County after state officials were unable to reunite it with its mother, wildlife officials said Thursday.

The female cub, estimated to be 4 to 5 months old and weighing just over 16 pounds, was discovered in the early morning hours of Jan. 21 crouched in traffic lanes along Hillcrest Parkway in Castaic, north of Los Angeles.

Initial concerns that the cub had been struck by a vehicle were later ruled out. Veterinary exams found no broken bones or major trauma, though the animal had a small laceration on one paw and was slightly underweight, officials said.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists spent more than a week attempting to locate the cub’s mother.

Crews set up trail cameras near the site where the cub was found and asked residents to report sightings of adult mountain lions traveling with young. While the department received several tips, most reports involved an adult male mountain lion traveling alone.

“It was determined that it wouldn’t be safe to release this tiny kitten back out. What we really wanted was to reunite it with its mom,” Cort Klopping, a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson, told The Signal.

With reunification deemed unlikely, the cub was flown Thursday to Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue. There, it will be housed with another rescued mountain lion cub, a step officials say helps young lions develop the social and survival skills needed to live in the wild.

The animal is expected to be returned to Southern California and released once it reaches at least 50 pounds, typically at 10 to 11 months of age.

The rescue comes days after a separate mountain lion – a 2-year-old male – was tranquilized and safely removed from San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood following more than 30 hours of sightings in city streets and parks. That lion was later released into open space on the Peninsula.

This article originally published at Mountain lion cub rescued in Southern California is sent to Sonoma County.