Car crash kills famed Los Angeles cougar in federal protection program
Tori Richards
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Another Southern California mountain lion in a federal protection program has died after being hit by a car, one month after the beloved mascot P-22 succumbed to the same fate in Los Angeles.
The body of P-81 was found along Pacific Coast Highway, the famed seaside route that spans most of California. He had been hit by a car near Malibu and traveled north another 60 miles before collapsing a week ago.
LA MOURNS THE DEATH OF COUGAR P-22 WITH PLANNED MEMORIAL
The 4-year-old male was part of a National Park Service study and had received the 81st collared tracking device, hence his name. Officials will perform a necropsy to determine the extent of his injuries. They had been tracking his whereabouts since March 2020.
“He was significant in our mountain lion study due to his physical abnormalities – a kinked tail in which the end is shaped like the letter L and only one descended testicle,” the park service said in a press release. “These abnormalities marked the first physical evidence of potential inbreeding depression due to a lack of genetic diversity since we began studying mountain lions in 2002.”
Los Angeles has been mourning the death of P-22, a 12-year-old cougar who was euthanized on Dec. 17 after officials noticed he began having erratic behavior. P-22 had lived most of his life in the wilds of Griffith Park, a solitary figure hemmed in by freeways and urbanization with no means to find a mate.
Residents delighted in occasional sightings of the handsome feline as he appeared on backyard surveillance cameras roaming the area and feasting on small animals. He gained worldwide fame through a National Geographic spread and several documentaries.
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P-22’s existence highlighted the plight of a dwindling mountain lion population, prompting the start of a bridge project that will be the world’s first freeway crossing for wildlife. It will span 10 lanes.
Car crashes are a major cause of mountain lion deaths in the area. So far, 34 deaths have been caused by cars since 2002. Nine mountain lions have died after being struck by cars in 2022.