P-81, the L.A. mountain lion with a crooked tail, killed by a vehicle
Newsmaking cougar P-81, a young big cat best known for his crooked tail — believed to be a sign of inbreeding among the isolated cougar population in Southern California — has died, according to authorities.
The body of the mountain lion was found on Pacific Coast Highway near Las Posas Road in the Point Mugu area. The cat was probably hit by a car, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area announced on Friday, Jan. 27.
P-81 is the 34th mountain lion, and the 13th radio-collared cat, to die from road mortality since 2002, according to recreation officials.
The Los Angeles area has been the locale of a number of big cat deaths in the past several months. Many fans of the region’s mountain lions are still mourning the death of P-22, the famed “Hollywood Cat” who spent most of his life in the Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, Griffith Park and environs.
The death of P-81 comes just days before a widely publicized “celebration of life” for P-22 at the Greek Theatre on Feb. 4, to give recognition to the cat who became a symbol of nature persisting and even thriving in urban America.
P-22 was euthanized on Dec. 17 after wildlife experts caught him to investigate his signs of illness and probable wounds from a collision with a vehicle. The ill cat had begun attacking pet dogs in the hills above Los Angeles.
Tickets for the memorial to P-22 sold out fast, but the public can watch live-streamlng of the early February event.
P-22 was believed to be one of the oldest cats in the National Park Service’s study of Southern California mountain lions. He was probably born in the Santa Monica Mountains, and then crossed busy freeways to end up in his tiny, nine-square-mile home, Griffith Park.
P-22 was outfitted with a tracking collar in 2012, and he was captured last month. Wildlife experts said P-22 had facial injuries — consistent with being struck by a vehicle.
Experts ultimately made the decision to euthanize the sick P-22 at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where he was being treated, to spare further suffering.
“P-22’s advanced age, combined with chronic, debilitating, life-shortening conditions and the clear need for extensive long-term veterinary intervention left P-22 with no hope for a positive outcome,” according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Local mountain lions have suffered several deaths trying to cross L.A.’s roadways.
Last summer a 2-year-old male known as P-89, born in a famous litter of four kittens widely publicized in the media, was found dead in the San Fernando Valley on the shoulder of the 101 freeway between the De Soto Avenue and Winnetka Avenue exits.
Biologists last July detected pings coming from P-89’s radio collar, meaning the young cat had not moved for hours. GPS data pointed to the freeway shoulder, where officials found his body. Ana Beatriz Cholo, spokesperson for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the U.S. National Park Service, said at the time, “He was hit in the head but his body is completely intact. He looks like he’s sleeping.”
P-89 was born during the “Summer of Kittens” when four mountain lion litters of 11 kittens were discovered, four of them found south of the 101 Freeway in the Santa Monica Mountains, and a fifth litter found in Simi Hills.
Even as these wild beasts succumb to urban pressures and human activity they continue to thrive in the populous Southland. Last year, biologists discovered a den of four tiny cougar babies, all females. They were officially dubbed P-109, P-110, P-111, and P-112.
Staff writer Steve Rosenberg and and City News Service contributed to this report