Meet Echo and Dash: Orphaned baby mountain lions at Scottsdale sanctuary sport new names

SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- The votes are in, and orphaned baby mountain lions at the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center have new names! After a three-week contest asking the public for names, the baby mountain lions are now named Echo and Dash.

The contest generated over $19,000 in funds for the Scottsdale wildlife sanctuary, the highest donation amount a naming contest has ever raised. Over 3,800 votes were cast by 423 donors. Echo and Dash received 2,166 votes, Alpine and Apache came in at 858, and Zion and Bryce had 828.

“We had donors from across Arizona and throughout the Midwest who donated more than $19,000 to help us care for these animals and others here at Southwest Wildlife. We are incredibly thankful and excited about the journey ahead in helping to raise and rehabilitate the two cubs here at Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center,” said Founder and Director Linda Searles. The funds will now go toward the cubs’ care and the rescue, rehabilitation and care of permanent sanctuary residents.

The cubs became orphans after a driver struck the mother lion. Their mother tried to return to her babies but died as she reached them. The two babies were weeks old when they were brought to the sanctuary and now call the conservation center home. To learn more about how to support or sponsor an animal at the sanctuary, click here.

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