SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists rescued three cougar kittens who were found abandoned in the Uinta Mountains over the weekend.

The kittens were transported to the Hogle Zoo and cared for before being taken to their new home at the Bronx Zoo in New York.

Officials said a concerned citizen called in to report the kittens and biologists could not locate their mother when they arrived.

DWR spokesperson Faith Jolley said the kittens were monitored for 48 hours before it was determined the mother was not around.

Biologists said they were worried about cold temperatures and gathered the kittens before a veterinarian took them to the Hogle Zoo.

Jolley said the DWR couldn’t rehabilitate the cougars and release them back into the wild.

“Unfortunately, we can’t rehabilitate cougars in the state of Utah,” she said. “We just don’t have the resources and they just don’t do very well when you try to put them back out in the wild. Their mother’s usually the one that teaches them some of their survival skills, of being able to track and hunt. So without that, unfortunately, they usually end up dying once they’re re-released into the wild.”