P-22's Death Sparks Renewed Hope For Wildlife Freeway Crossing

AGOURA HILLS, CA — As Angelenos reluctantly said goodbye to P-22, hope was focused on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a massive, $100 million undertaking designed to protect the region's isolated mountain lion population.

Beloved Los Angeles mountain lion P-22 was euthanized on Saturday for serious health issues and injuries after being hit by a car, according to Beth Pratt, California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Foundation.

P-22 made an unlikely trek across the San Diego (405) and Hollywood (101) freeways, and he's the only lion known to have survived such crossings. Freeways have proven dangerous for other pumas in Los Angeles. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will offer pumas a safer alternative in the form of a 210-foot long and 170-foot wide bridge over the Liberty Canyon Road exit on the 101 freeway — the "most significant barrier to the ecological health of the region," according to the National Wildlife Foundation.

As a major inspiration for the crossing, P-22 is a reminder of why the project is so urgent, Pratt said.

“The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing would not have been possible without P-22, but the most fitting memorial to P-22 will be how we carry his story forward in the work ahead. One crossing is not enough — we must build more, and we must continue to invest in proactive efforts to protect and conserve wildlife and the habitats they depend on — even in urban areas," Pratt said. "P-22’s journey to and life in Griffith Park was a miracle. It’s my hope that future mountain lions will be able to walk in the steps of P-22 without risking their lives on California’s highways and streets."

Construction started on the massive crossing this year and is projected to finish in 2025. Models of the crossing show a wide, grass-covered overpass that blends seamlessly into the mountains surrounding the freeway.

The crossing aims to alleviate one of the major dangers facing Los Angeles mountain lions — traffic. At least 32 pumas have been killed by vehicles since 2002, and at least 5 of them were in 2022, according to the National Park Service. P-22 himself was hit by a car in Los Feliz a week before his death, but other recent traffic deaths include P-54, a puma that was pregnant with four kittens when she was hit, and P-54's offspring, a puma killed just two months before on the San Diego (405) Freeway near the Getty Center.

But the crossing is about far more than just protection from vehicles. The crossing will connect the isolated Santa Monica Mountains lions with other mountain lion populations to promote genetic diversity, something particularly important as a recent study found inbreeding was driving population decline in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana Mountain ranges. Plants and other animals will benefit from the new access to biodiversity in the isolated ecosystem.

"I grieve over each mountain lion lost on our roadways," Pratt said in a statement. "Yet wildlife crossings are not just about single tragic losses of beloved animals. Our wild heritage, from mountain lions to monarch butterflies, is something Californians value and treasure. Ensuring that wildlife remains on our landscapes into the future across the Golden State requires that we address the devastation that freeways and roadways have caused to ecosystems, fragmenting them into islands that threaten wildlife large and small with extinction.”

The crossing, commonly referred to as a public-private partnership, has garnered significant national attention and multi-million dollar donations from major players including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Annenberg Foundation, and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The crossing to date has raised over $103 million.

"P-22 was an icon. His incredible journey helped inspire a new era of urban conservation, including the world’s largest wildlife crossing in CA. I grew up loving these cats. Thinking of my dad today who was a wildlife activist & taught me about protecting these precious animals," Newsom said in a Tweet.

The local community has long been a key stakeholder in the crossing. Far beyond P-22's fame, more than 100 Santa Monica mountain lions have been tagged and are beloved by many community members, who cheer when pumas give birth, commemorate their deaths and work hard to preserve their habitat.

Students have participated in classroom discussions, residents have been trained on safe wildlife encounters, and many have volunteered their time and efforts to make the crossing a reality.

In 2014, over 400 community members showed up at the would-be crossing site for the public launch of the #SaveLACougars campaign following a mountain lion's traffic death in the Liberty Canyon area in 2013, according to the crossing's website. Community members and local representatives have returned at many points since then to scope out the site and celebrate the crossing.

Over the years, they've collectively mourned ill-fated crossing attempts, too. In 2013, when only 30 mountain lions were tagged and only one had successfully crossed the 101 — P-22 — conservationists mourned the death of a lion at Liberty Canyon.

“The fact that this young male chose to cross – unsuccessfully – at Liberty Canyon shows how critical this wildlife corridor is for maintaining genetic diversity in the Santa Monica Mountains,” Dr. Seth Riley said at the time.

A Long Time Coming

The idea for such a crossing is far from new. In the context of a timeline dating back to the 1960s, construction is actually a final step.

The interchange at Liberty Canyon was built in the 1950s, and experts have since pondered a natural transition for local wildlife, the Acorn reported in 2014.

Experts with the National Park Service and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy were ahead of their time in the 80s identifying a need for a "continuous wildlife corridor in the Liberty Canyon area," according to the crossing's website.

Studies spanning from the 1990s to the present day have supported the need for a corridor to connect the Santa Monica Mountains with neighboring ranges. Before plans for the overpass were solidified, locals mulled other ideas including a $10-million tunnel, according to the Acorn.

The National Park Service began tagging and studying mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains in 2002, the findings of which only increased urgency and public interest in a crossing.

With attempts at a crossing starting as early as 2003, organizers started wracking up funding and obtaining local property to make the crossing a reality. Agoura Hills' first mayor Fran Pavley and Santa Monica Mountains Executive Director Joseph Edminston led the first major stakeholder group and initiated the present-day push for the crossing alongside the National Wildlife Federation's #SaveLACougars campaign.

Now, elected officials and community leaders move forward with renewed energy following P-22's death.

"P-22 changed the world. Against all odds he managed to survive and thrive in one of the most populated urban centers in the world. He showed us the importance of wildlife connectivity and biodiversity. Thank you," newly-elected Agoura Hills City Council Member Jeremy Wolf said in a tweet.