Remembering P-22 The Famous Los Angeles Mountain Lion that Stalked Celebrity Backyards

Los Angeles is house to a number of the richest and most well-known individuals on this planet. The prosperous neighborhoods of Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Santa Monica are house to sprawling neighborhoods of multi-million greenback houses. Inside these neighborhoods, you will discover a number of celebrities, together with film stars, skilled athletes, and titans of the business. All of those individuals dominate their respective industries and are on the high of the social pyramid. That mentioned, one of the vital notorious celebrities in LA historical past is not an individual however a wild animal.

For years, the mountain lion referred to as P-22 roamed the Hollywood Hills. Over a interval of about 10 years, P-22 obtained quite a lot of media consideration. Quite a few books, films, tv exhibits, and different artwork kinds chronicle his life and affect on Los Angeles. Sadly, P-22’s life got here to an finish on December 17, 2022, after Nationwide Park Service (NPS) and California Division of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) brokers captured and euthanized him after discovering he was a traumatic damage and suffered from a number of different long-term well being issues. On this article, we’ll discover the historical past of the ‘Hollywood Cat’. With this, we hope to honor his legacy and draw consideration to the plight of mountain lions dwelling in and round Los Angeles.

Mountain lions round Los Angeles

For hundreds of years, mountain lions dominated the rugged landscapes of North America. Nevertheless, the arrival of European settlers within the late fifteenth century marked a turning level in mountain lion historical past. Inside a number of hundred years, people all through a lot of their historic vary killed or drove off mountain lions. At present, solely 15 or 16 states within the US have established mountain lion populations. Of those states, a number of are house to just a few hundred mountain lions, and solely a handful have mountain lion populations exceeding 2,000.

California has one of many largest mountain lion populations in the US. It’s estimated that between 4,000 and 6,000 mountain lions reside in The Golden State. You may see why mountain lions proceed to thrive within the state while you take a look at California’s panorama. Though greater than 39 million individuals reside in California, most residents reside in densely populated city facilities. Total, about 47% of the state falls underneath the class of protected land. Which means California mountain lions have entry to massive areas of largely uninhabited territory the place they hunt and breed in relative peace.

Whereas most mountain lions reside within the distant mountains and forests of California, a small inhabitants bucks this development. There are about two dozen mountain lions dwelling in and round Los Angeles at any given time. Most of LA’s mountain lions reside within the Santa Monica Mountains simply northwest of the town. Nevertheless, one lion diverged from the remainder of his family and created a brand new house for himself within the coronary heart of LA. This lion, P-22, resided in Griffith Park for practically 10 years, throughout which era he gained a fame for deftly dodging the Hollywood highlight higher than even probably the most camera-shy celebs. That is his story.

P-22: The Early Years

P-22 was born circa 2010 within the western half of the Santa Monica Mountains. His father, P-001, was the primary mountain lion to be captured and studied within the LA space. To at the present time, the id of P-22’s mom is unknown. P-22 managed to remain off the radar of conservation specialists till 2012, when a digital camera entice arrange by the Griffith Park Connectivity Examine noticed it. On the time, specialists estimated P-22’s age at 1.5 years and his weight at about 90 kilos. In March 2012, Nationwide Park Service biologists managed to seize him and put him on a GPS radio collar. They referred to as him “P-22.” The “P” comes from “puma,” one other identify for a mountain lion, whereas “22” refers to its rank within the ongoing NPS cougar examine.

To at the present time, pundits and followers alike marvel at how P-22 made its solution to Griffith Park. Nobody is bound how he efficiently made the journey from the Santa Monica Mountains to downtown LA. simply crossing one is an unbelievable feat. To cross each, particularly at such a younger age, is nearly unbelievable.

P-22: Rise to Fame

The invention of a mountain lion dwelling close to the Hollywood signal caught the nation’s consideration. The Los Angeles Instances launched a front-page article on P-22 in August 2012. The media frenzy continued as Nationwide Geographic photographer Steve Winter needed to take a photograph of P-22, as the unique trailcam footage solely allowed viewers to glimpse his bottom. Winter spent 15 months organising digital camera traps in Griffith Park to get the right shot. He lastly succeeded in late 2013, and his now-iconic picture of the P-22 made it into the December 2013 situation of Nationwide Geographic. The picture and accompanying story solely served to catapult P-22 to greater ranges of fame.

Over the subsequent few years, P-22 made headlines a number of occasions for his antics. In 2014, he developed scabies, a parasitic pores and skin illness, after publicity to rat poison. NPS brokers then captured P-22 and handled the sickness with topical drugs and injections of vitamin Okay. The next yr, P-22 wandered into Los Feliz, a neighborhood adjoining to Griffith Park. The state of affairs induced a media frenzy as native officers tried to give you options to get him to depart. In 2016, P-22 got here underneath scrutiny after the violent dying of a koala on the LA Zoo. Zookeepers found components of the koala about 1,150 ft from its enclosure, and P-22 was sighted within the space on the time. Nevertheless, P-22 was by no means totally concerned within the crime.

P-22: Lifeless

In November 2022, NPS and CDFW brokers discovered that P-22 killed a leashed chihuahua within the Hollywood Hills. The mauling shocked officers and the general public alike, as this was the primary assault on a leashed pet within the LA space by a mountain lion. Two weeks later, the P-22 attacked one other chihuahua, which, because of the proprietor’s intervention, managed to flee bloody however alive. Close by witnesses managed to catch a part of each assaults on digital camera, and a number of other different cameras and video footage shot within the areas round Griffith Park managed to catch a glimpse of him over a three-week interval from mid-November to early December. Such uncommon and brutal habits alerted the authorities and gave them cause to suppose that one thing is perhaps incorrect with P-22.

On 8 Dec^eIn 2022, the CDFW introduced it deliberate to seize P-22 to guage its well being. CDFW brokers found P-22 within the yard of a Los Feliz home-owner a number of days later. After sedating him, officers rushed him to the Los Angeles Zoo after which to the San Diego Zoo for analysis and remedy. An preliminary examination revealed that the P-22 had thinning fur, was considerably underweight, and had suffered harm to his proper eye, presumably from a automobile accident. Medical doctors on the San Diego Zoo Safari Park performed extra checks, which revealed a cranium fracture and a herniated disc of the P-22’s belly organs. As well as, the medical doctors discovered that P-22 had stage 2 kidney failure, coronary heart illness, and a parasitic pores and skin an infection. Given the severity of those situations, authorities determined to euthanize P-22. On 17 Dec^e2022, at 9 a.m., P-22 was euthanized.

P-22: Legacy

P-22’s dying despatched a wave of grief from Californians and followers all over the world. Native representatives launched statements mourning his passing and praising the eye he paid to conservation efforts. Throughout its lifetime, P-22 impressed a number of initiatives, together with the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a pedestrian bridge over Freeway 101 that might enable future mountain lions to enter Griffith Park with out having to make the harmful crossing that P-22 makes an attempt to make .

P-22 lived in Griffith Park, an space of ​​simply 9 sq. miles, for practically a decade. Contemplating that a mean male mountain lion can management a territory of as much as 300 sq. miles, that is an unbelievable instance of survival and adaptation. Throughout its 12 years, P-22 in all probability by no means mated, and apart from a short while after beginning, it by no means knew the corporate of different mountain lions. He lived on an island surrounded by risks and needed to make a dwelling on a meager piece of land. Regardless of these obstacles, he managed to thrive, remodeling right into a folkloric legend.

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