Fabulous Felines – #137 – celebration of the life of P-22

Students from the Esperanza elementary school in Los Angeles honor the mountain lion P-22 on 4 February. Photograph: Scott Mitchell/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/06/los-angeles-p22-mountain-lion-memorial-greek-theater

I streamed the touching tribute to LA’s most famous mountain lion as it was held live at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park (his home for over ten years) to a sellout crowd of 6,000 people. His fame brought attention to the plight of all cougars and other wildlife roaming the dangerous built environment in Southern California. Partly because of him the $90 million Wallis Annenberg wildlife crossing is already under construction over a 10-lane stretch of the 101 freeway in Agoura Hills. Ms. Annenberg spoke at the memorial.

Fabulous Felines – #136 – RIP P-80

Although P-22 was probably our most famous Southern California cougar, there are many others roaming the region. Unfortunately, the kill rate for these magnificent creatures is quite high, mostly by encountering vehicles on the road. P-80 was killed on on January 22, 2023, along Pacific Coast Highway, a treacherous stretch of road for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians of the human kind, let alone our four-legged population. This was about a month after the death of P-22.

“The cougar [P-80] had been tracked by National Park Service scientists as part of a long-term study. He was noted for his physical abnormalities: a kinked tail and only one descended testicle, according to the park service.

“Biologists said the traits were signs of low genetic diversity, or inbreeding, in the area, and the discovery “underscores the need for measures to better support this population,” wildlife biologist Jeff Sickich said in 2020.”

Read the full story at https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/29/us/california-mountain-lion-dead-p81-car/index.html

Fabulous Felines – #132 – blankie time and good news for cougars

Usually no matter how much coaxing I do, Frankie will not take a nap with me on the sofa. He actually craves being picked up, but only in the kitchen for whatever weird reason.

(Freddie has no such problem and will often settle down with me on the sofa whether I want him to or not.)

However, lately it has been VERY chilly (for Los Angeles) and my heater doesn’t do a good job. So Frankie has been forced to come and snuggle with me in the evenings… two evenings in a row in fact, wow, a miracle!

Unfortunately for him I don’t sit still for very long but when I move him off my lap he stays under the blanket purring loudly. 

Good news for the Mountain Lions of Los Angeles

Two decades of study by the National Park Service in the Los Angeles area has shown roads and development are not only proving deadly for animals trying to cross [the freeways], but have also created islands of habitat that can genetically isolate all wildlife—from bobcats to birds to lizards. The species most immediately at risk, the mountain lion, could vanish from the area in less than 50 years. Of all the area roads, multiple research and planning efforts have identified the 101 Freeway as the most significant barrier to the ecological health of the region, and a possible extinction vortex.

Recently I was on a Zoom meeting sponsored by the West LA Group of the Sierra Club regarding the overpass. It seems that by the end of 2021, if everything continues on track, work could begin on the world’s largest wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon, less than 30 miles west of downtown Los Angeles as the crow flies or 40 miles by freeway (64 km). Very exciting news.

For more information please visit the Save LA Cougars website here!