Famous mountain lion killed P-22

The mountain lion known as P-22, who had lived in metropolitan Griffith Park for more than a decade, was “compassionately euthanized” Saturday morning due to the severe injuries he sustained earlier in the week and his general poor condition, according to the California Department of from the State Director of Fish and Wildlife.

P-22 was assumed to be approximately 12 years old.

The National Park Service and the state’s Wildlife Division captured the mountain lion this week. The lion began migrating further and further outside its Griffith Park domain into densely populated residential areas. He recently attacked and killed a Chihuahua and tried to grab another small dog. These attacks led officials to arrest him for an investigation.

He was caught in the backyard of a Los Feliz home near several schools, including John Marshall High School.

Experts said the cat had been showing “signs of stress” for the past month and had apparently been hit by a car and suffered an eye injury. During the investigation after his arrest, he was said to be extremely underweight and suffering from a skin disease.

The mountain lion was not healthy enough to be released back into Griffith Park, state rangers said. There was some retirement in a game reserve, but it was shattered by his long list of medical problems that made his long-term survival problematic.

P-22 was first seen in 2013 at Griffith Park. The park is in the middle of urban Los Angeles, but the mountains were home to P-22s, which preyed on mule deer and other small creatures while staying in the highlands. It is believed that he was born in the Santa Monica Mountains and had to cross two busy freeways to get to Griffith Park. Once there, however, he was caught and his mating calls went unanswered.

Although P-22 was considered a wild animal, his celebrity status was undisputed, and neighbors happily reported his frequent sightings in populated neighborhoods. A photo series by National Geographic led to a documentary in 2017, The Cat That Changed America a museum exhibit, a coloring book for children and a mural in Watts, an area further south in Los Angeles.

Praise for P-22, a mountain lion that changed the world

Beth Pratt, a spokeswoman for the National Wildlife Federation, described the P-22’s final moments in an online post.

“I sat next to him, looked him in the eye for a few minutes and told him he was a good boy. I told him how much I loved him. How the world loved him. And I told him I was so sorry we didn’t make the world a safer place for him. I apologize for letting him down despite what I and others who cared about him did.

I have no illusions that my presence or my words comfort him. And I left with great sadness that I will carry for the rest of my days.

Team members from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park medical team reviewed the P-22 examinations before making their decision, Pratt said.

“They showed me a video of the P-22 CT scan, pictures of the results, and my desperation grew as they detailed the list of serious health issues they discovered from all their tests: stage two kidney failure, a weight of 90 pounds !! (he normally weighs about 125), head and eye trauma, a hernia causing abdominal organs to fill his chest cavity, an extensive case of Demodex gatoi (a parasitic skin infection probably transmitted by domestic cats becoming), heart disease, and more. The most serious injuries came from a car accident last week and I thought how awful it was that this cat, who had avoided cars for ten years, in her weakened and desperate state did not survive the collision with the vehicle could not survive. prevented. sealed his fate.”