Work of Miguel Ordeñana

BY PATRICIA DENYS AND MARY HOLMES

ALL PHOTOS ©MIGUEL ORDEÑANA EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

The first person to realize that a mountain lion lived in Griffith Park was Miguel Ordeñana IV, the Community Science Senior Manager and Wildlife Biologist at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He states on his LinkedIn page, “At NHM, my role as a biologist involves studying local urban wildlife species of Los Angeles and acting as a liaison between Research & Collection researchers and the general public. My role as a community science manager involves promoting and creating community science projects, recruitment of community scientists, and community science training. In addition to my work at NHM, I use bat detectors to study urban bat species of Los Angeles and camera traps to study urban carnivores of Griffith Park, where I grew up.” He discovered P-22 (as he was eventually labeled, “Puma-22”) due to one of his wildlife observation cameras. He was so excited the see P-22 stroll past his camera, he frantically had to search for his phone and ran barefooted two blocks after realizing it was in his car! Many of the photos and videos we have seen of P-22 since are courtesy of Ordeñana.

We told him we had already interviewed Beth Pratt of NWF. He responded that he was sure that some of what they both said would overlap, but, “as one of those people that have been part of his story since the beginning it’s been a really great opportunity and an honor to be able to follow his story, and also be the person to discover the first photo of him back in 2012. He’s pleased that in sharing P-22’s story in ways that leave an impression on people with diverse backgrounds, others have gone on to do the same through hip hop music, documentaries, articles, children’s books, puppets, all types of ways. Ordeñana views the P-22 story as one of survival and overcoming the odds. It also has functioned to spotlight, “the barriers that a lot of mountain lions and urban wildlife have in their way when they’re trying to survive in cities.” He added, “I think urban wildlife research conservation is kind of a new field, and one that really didn’t get the love that it deserved. P-22 has really brought it to the attention of everybody and convinced people that didn’t pay too much attention to urban wildlife and conservation issues.”

It’s become a priority for many people, including policymakers, “who are the ones who make decisions on how neighborhoods are zoned, how people are able to develop, the type of toxins we’re able to put out in the ecosystem, and to understand that cities are ecosystems as well. People that live in cities are not off the hook when it comes to being a good neighbor to wildlife. I think that’s the legacy that I’m most proud of that I’ve been a part of, and of course him being ambassador for the Wildlife Crossing fundraising campaign, breaking ground right before he passed away.” He commented on P-22 Day. “It’s really great to see that people are able to celebrate him throughout this campaign on P-22 Day. People won’t forget about him and this is one of those animals that will have an impact that is going to last longer than some of the most famous people, which is pretty incredible to think about.” After P-22 passed, Ordeñana said that many reporters who interviewed him, who had been following the mountain lion’s story for some time, commented that they teared up when they heard he had passed. One even commented, “It’s been an honor to follow this story and cover his story. I’ve interviewed presidents and celebrities and this is definitely a step above all of that.” Ordeñana reiterated what a huge impact P-22 and his story had made on so many individuals, “I hope people continue to honor his legacy by adjusting the way they live, and making the cities and neighborhoods they live in more accommodating to wildlife in honor of P-22, and other wildlife that have passed so tragically because of us.”

A wildlife biologist by trade, he worked closely with the Park Service, and commented on how P-22’s saga had increased our knowledge about mountain lions surviving in urban settings. “What I would say, and I think the Park Service would agree with me, and they’re the ones who have been tracking him with the collar. They would say that he’s really proved to people how adaptable mountain lions can be, if we give them enough space and resources for survival. Mountain lions, especially males, are very solitary territorial individuals and usually need about 200 square miles of space to themselves. He ended up in a park or a territory that’s eight square miles, nine if you stretch it out to neighboring properties like the cemetery and the Warner Brothers studios that are right against the Park. And that’s remarkable.

“I think that, from a scientific level, biologists who followed mountain lion ecology and behavior their whole lives would have never expected for this to be a possibility. They’re known as the most urban-sensitive animals around urban areas. This animal proved all that wrong and threw that all out the window. Not only that that he survived in this park, but it’s not a pristine park. I love Griffith Park. But it is definitely - a lot of it is disturbed. It’s developed in some way or another. It has the Greek Theatre, it has public city buildings, it has neighborhoods going into it and around, it has a Zoo, the Observatory, and multiple 18-hole golf courses. Within that 8 to 9 square miles, some of that is already carved-up and disturbed. There are also roads that go through that park, winding roads, blind corners, and it says 25 miles an hour on the speed limit, but people go 60 miles an hour on those roads.

“For him to survive all that and the fact that people put rat poison out in their backyards, and the City puts rat poison out. It’s just so impressive that he’s been able to survive all that and coexist with thousands of people every single day – tourists, local people, homeless individuals that live in the park. He’s shown that they just want to be away from us as much as they can. Yes, so he will go into neighborhoods from time to time. But if you look at his data points, according to the Park Service, he uses as much of that wilderness as he can, even when he’s going through really disturbed areas, he’ll use that sliver of corridor of open woods habitat that has cover for him to stay out of sight, for him to stay safe. I think that really is a testament of how much opportunity there is for us to co-exist with them if we do the right thing, if we give them their space, if they have enough food to survive, and aren’t pushed to desperation.”

His demise was inevitable, given the combination of injuries and old age with its own contributions to his deteriorating health. Yet, he lived to be 12 years old, which is remarkable for his kind. Most male mountain lions live to be around 10; usually by that age another younger male would have come into his territory and killed him. “He basically did what he could to last as long as he could, and unfortunately didn’t make it. There were many times where he’s been there and he’s been looking at me. I love to fantasize that he knew who I was, or he eventually was able to recognize me, but who knows? I doubt that. But also there’s other footage of him where he’s walking in front of the camera, hanging out in front of one of my cameras, and less than 30 seconds later a hiker walks in front of that camera and he’s gone. He was making active choices to avoid people. He could have interacted with people a many times. But he only did that when he felt desperate enough.

“Contrary to our earlier beliefs, a mountain lion can survive in an urban environment. They can survive a long time, even really in urban areas and the connectivity is key. Griffith Park is isolated, but there’s at least enough connectivity. The study I was involved in that, which led to the discovery and documents that there are overpasses, there are tunnels that are allowing deer to come in and out of the park, and bobcats and coyotes. My cameras also showed that deer are reproducing in the park so it’s healthy enough for apparently a mountain lion to live at least a good amount of time. That’s great to see.”

At the time of P-22’s death, some controversy arose about what to do with P-22’s remains. Specifically, the indigenous peoples of the region wanted him to be buried in Griffith

Park. Ordeñana explained, “How it started was the fact that, in my opinion, the museum didn’t put enough outreach out there which is on me partly, about the fact we applied for a permit, got a permit a year ago, to collect P-22’s remains. The intention was to preserve his scientific legacy, which means that his tissue samples, fur, even parasites that we find on him could inform future research, our knowledge about the evolution of mountain lions, our knowledge of the conservation threats that are facing mountain lions, not only right now, but also in the future when the technology and the tools are available, that haven’t even been invented yet.” He said in many cases, even when animals such as P-22 are part of studies, when they die they are given a necropsy, and then their remains are discarded. “I didn’t want that to be lost, especially for P-22, who meant so much to me, and so many other people, and my intention was to get him to the Museum and then have those conversations about what to do next – do we want to put any aspect of his body on display? What aspects of his body do we want to preserve for future research? And those are all questions we were hoping to answer as soon, once he got into the museum, and that included engaging tribal communities, in addition to other communities that care about P -22 and his legacy.” Many of those communities were indeed surprised his remains were going to the Natural History Museum. For more on this, see the December 23, 2022 Los Angeles Times article Dispute arises over P-22’s remains as Indigenous people fight for Griffith Park burial.

I hope people continue to HONOR