Wildlife officer, mountain lion perform ‘acrobatic stunt’ during rescue from soon-to-be flooded spillway

Dramatic videos show a wildlife officer and a mountain lion performing an impressive “acrobatic stunt” to rescue the animal from a soon-to-be flooded spillway.

Just before the dam at the Vallecito Reservoir was set to be opened, workers noticed two mountain lion cubs sheltering in the channel.

The release of water from the dam likely would have drown the cubs. Dam officials held off on the release and called the Colorado Parks and Wildlife and CPW officials came to the rescue.

Footage released by CPW shows an officer using a rope to lower a bar to the cub. The cub grabbed onto the bar and allowed himself to be lifted to safety.

A second lion couldn’t quite get the “hang” of the rescue attempt, so a CPW climbed down a ladder into the spillway to go to him. He used a rope and a catch pole to capture the lion.

She eventually ran off into the woods in the same direction as her sibling.

Watch the video of their rescue in the player at the top of this article.