Look Out Calabasas, There's A New Mountain Lion In Town

CALABASAS, CA — The National Park Service tagged a new mountain lion on Sept. 8 as part of their program to track and study mountain lions in the Santa Monica mountains.

P-99 is a female two or three year old mountain lion found in the western Santa Monica mountains. She will be one of 13 being tracked with a GPS collar currently, though she is the 99th caught and studied by the service.

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Community members often follow these mountain lions throughout their lives, and many have shown excitement on social media about the new lion's identification.

Community members have told Patch that they remember when some tagged mountain lions, like P-54, gave birth to their cubs, and have watched neighbors rally around the animals. Many were sad to discover it was P-54's cub that was involved in a high profile attack in Monte Nido in August.

Another NPS mountain lion, P-22, has also become a local celebrity for her cameos in Griffith Park, LAist reported.

Many people have taken to social media to welcome P-99 to the Santa Monica Mountains family, calling the animal "beautiful" and "stunning."

👋 Hi there, P-99! ⛰🦁 https://t.co/rY3ewC0S81
— Assemblymember Richard Bloom (@AsmRichardBloom) October" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/AsmRichard... 19, 2021

P-99 is one of many animals who will benefit from Caltrans' upcoming wildlife crossing across the State Route 101 (Ventura Freeway), which will increase biodiversity and protect the population of mountain lions trapped by the freeway.