Mountain Lion Reported In P-22's Old Griffith Park Stomping Grounds

LOS ANGELES, CA — A mountain lion recently filmed in Griffith Park, the stomping grounds of the late P-22, is generating excitement about another great Hollywood cat.

To get there, the animal would have presumably survived multiple freeway crossings just like its famed predecessor. Aside from footage showing the cat perched on a low tree branch near a Hollywood Hills condo complex, very little is known about the uncollared puma.

The National Park Service, which tracks lions and their movements in the Santa Monica Mountains, is attempting to verify the cat's presence in the park and possibly capture and collar it with a GPS tracker.

A resident recently captured video of the lion while parking at his apartment building off Barham Boulevard. Vladimir Polumiskov told the Los Angeles Times he and his wife and son had just returned from dinner when they spotted the cat in his car's headlights barely 10 feet away.

Polumiskov told the Times he quickly put his toddler back in his car seat and the family closed the car doors as the lion remained perched on a low-hanging branch of an Oak Tree.

“This guy was huge,” he told the Times.

Polumiskov, who filmed the encounter, had seen P-22 in the very same parking lot just months before the cat died in December of 2022.

In his decade as Hollywood's cat, P-22 became a wildlife ambassador in one of the most densely populated cities in the country. His death left a hole felt deeply by many Angelenos, and the idea that another cat could help fill the void, had many wildlife enthusiasts buzzing Monday.

"Exciting news!" Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation proclaimed on X on Sunday after the news began spreading. "We have been getting some reports of a mountain lion sighted in Griffith Park. The (NPS) biologists have been alerted and are investigating.

"Please give the cat space if you see him -- we are trying to avoid for now people trying to photograph him -- lights and sounds from cameras could impact this cat's behavior as we don't know if he is as comfortable in front of the cameras as P-22," Pratt wrote. "And even P-22 would avoid cameras as well. If you do see him, please let us know as this will help the researchers. He is not collared."

If the sighting is confirmed and the cat is captured and fitted with an NPS tracking collar, it would be dubbed P-122, Pratt said.

J.P. Rose, urban wildlands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the sighting a "wonderful reminder that iconic pumas live among us, even in one of the most populated cities in the U.S."

"Like P-22, this young cat has to navigate dangerous roads, development and poisons on the landscape to survive," Rose said in a statement. "It's good timing that state lawmakers are voting on two bills this week that would improve wildlife connectivity and restrict the use of deadly rat poisons. Let's hope they use this opportunity to pass the Room to Roam Act and the Poison-free Wildlife Act so our wild neighbors can thrive."

P-22 was long the face of the NPS' lion-tracking project. He gained fame for persisting in the urban environment and managed to successfully cross both the San Diego (405) and Hollywood (101) freeways to reach Griffith Park. He was occasionally caught on camera as he roamed through Griffith Park. It's likely this new cat followed a similar path.

He was euthanized in December 2022 after he was struck by a car in Los Feliz. He had been behaving strangely and interacting in residential neighborhoods.

He had been wandering into densely populated areas in Silver Lake and Los Feliz, and “there were a number of incidents where he chased, and in some cases, attacked dogs that were in close proximity to people. This was not something that had been seen during the first 10 years of tracking him, and it is something that is rare for mountain lions generally,” according to wildlife officials.

The behavioral changes, along with evidence of physical changes were considered indicative of P-22 's sudden struggle to thrive in the wild.

He was captured in a Los Feliz backyard. Experts determined he was suffering from an array of health problems, leading to the decision to euthanize him.

It was the fame of P-22 that helped drive the effort to build the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing project underway near Agoura Hills. Experts hope it will dramatically improve conditions for the region's sparse mountain lion population. The crossing will span over 10 lanes of the Ventura (101) Freeway in Liberty Canyon when completed in 2025, and aims to provide a connection between the small population of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains and the larger and genetically diverse populations to the north.

Diversifying the local lions' gene pool is seen as key to the species' survival in the region Landlocked by freeways, experts don't believe P-22 was able to find a mate during his time in Griffith Park.

SEE ALSO:

• Famous P-22 Mountain Lion Goes For Walk Deep In The City
• Famous Griffith Park Mountain Lion Shacks Up in Mansion's Crawl Space
• Celebrity Cougar P-22 Receives New Collar, Status Update
• Lion Becomes Instant Legend For Crossing The 405 Freeway
• It's A Girl! Meet LA's Newest Mountain Lion
• Mountain Lion Killed Trying to Cross the Freeway
• P-22 Mountain Lion To Be Featured In Nature Mural In Watts
• Gavin Newsom To Speak At Mountain Lion P-22 Festival

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.