P-22’S CHAMPION CARRIES THE TORCH AND RUNS WITH IT

BY MARY HOLMES

, a mountain lion who was the unlikely denizen of Griffith Park in Los Angeles for a decade, was unfortunately euthanized on December 17, 2022. Known to many as “the Brad Pitt of mountain lions,” the decision to euthanize him was made for humane reasons, as he was suffering not only from injuries from being hit by an automobile, but also several other long-term health issues. Beth Pratt, Regional Executive Director of the California Regional Center of the National Wildlife Federation, and easily P-22’s biggest ally, spoke to us recently about his life, and death.

Many of our readers may know this story, but for those who don’t, Pratt narrates, “P-22 came on all of our radars, in 2012 when that first LA Times story appeared, written by Martha Groves. At the time, I don’t think it was huge, huge news. It definitely was surprising, and made an impact in LA but it hadn’t quite hit the world stage yet. I think the headline in the LA Times. As Pratt puts it, prior to that, the mountain lion was more of a local celebrity. “That’s the photo that really introduced him to the world and made him an international celebrity. I think what he’s represented with his 10 years in Griffith Park was the hope of how wildlife can live in urban settings, but also the tragedy that, unlike most of his mountain lion relatives who made that journey, he wasn’t hit by a car and killed.” Pratt feels the trauma of that journey is the reason he chose to stay in Griffith Park. Instead of the typical male mountain lion range of 100-150 square miles, P-22 was in an 8-9 square mile park. “I think he made a decision when he got there, which is, ‘Boy, I’m not braving those freeways again. There’s plenty of food here,’ and that’s really what territory sizes are dependent on is prey availability. There’s all this deer available in Griffith Park because people have gardens, and Forest Lawn Cemetery is nearby. There’s probably more was even ‘Mountain Lion Makes a home in Griffith Park.’ He wasn’t even named in the headline. It was a game changer though, and to have this cat show up in such an urbanized setting . . . Especially since we know the path he had to take.” P-22 traveled from the central Santa Monica Mountains, crossing both the 101 and 405 freeways to make his way to Griffith Park. From DNA testing, it was later determined his father was P-1, also from the central Santa Monica Mountains. Most Angelenos were surprised that Los Angeles had not banished nature enough to keep a mountain lion from appearing in the Park.

In 2013, Steve Winter, a National Geographic photographer, got a night shot, via remote camera, of P-22 with the Hollywood sign in the background. This was also published deer there than naturally would be, so he had at least a good deer supply so that’s why he stayed.” The fact that he chose to remain in such a small space underscored the limitations of unconnected space. “He was trapped on this island, out of options, and representing what his whole population was going through in the LA area which is these freeways were really limiting their ability to have a future.”

There was no option to move him elsewhere. Moving him into another space would have either resulted in the death of him, or a rival mountain lion, or he would have attempted to go back to Griffith Park. The likelihood of him surviving additional freeway crossings would have been slim. Pratt said his best shot at survival was to remain in the Park.

She harkened back to the issue of unconnected space. “I think that’s why people really sympathized with him. He was the extreme example of what these freeways have done to the Santa Monica Mountains’ lion population. These mountain lions are inbreeding themselves out of existence because the freeways are blocking new genetic or mountain lions outside of their families. He was the extreme example that it wasn’t just that he was inbreeding, he didn’t even have an option to mate, because of limitations. I think he really showed, what these freeways do right up to the end.”

For the most part, he stayed in the Park and avoided encounters with human beings. Toward the end of his life, his behavior changed and he was spending more time in the human environment, “Right there at the end, his behavior changed radically. He was hanging out down at Trader Joe’s in Los Feliz and I would drive around there thinking, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe he’s down here, this is about as urban as it is. I think for me it again showed the limitations of unconnected space, we now know he was severely ill even before the car strike. I think those of us who have cats know sometimes they try to go somewhere when it’s time and again, this is based on those signs, I think that might have been part of it. I think in the neighborhood especially there is the potential for much easier, smaller prey and it doesn’t necessarily even have to be pets. He actually took a raccoon down in full view of somebody’s backyard. Our backyards in these urban areas are where smaller animals hang out because of our gardens and trash - raccoons, foxes. I also think part of him hanging out in these neighborhoods was he knew the smaller prey was there, whether it be pets or raccoons or skunks or whatever, but again it points to the limitations of unconnected space where he was out of options in his old age, and indeed even that he got to that old was a result of unconnected space. You just don’t see male mountain lions get that old usually. At this point in his life he probably would have been dethroned by a younger male.”

Pratt is convinced that P-22 changed the game. “It’s not just an LA story; it’s not just a California story. He made us really reconsider how we live with wildlife and what’s possible, and not only that but what we need to do. We wouldn’t have a wildlife crossing without him. And it’s not just this one – he’s inspiring more. There’s a tragic tale to him, but there’s also this wonderfully hopeful tale with how people connected with him so profoundly, both in LA and around the world.”

At the time the Martha Groves story ran, Pratt had just started working for the National Wildlife Federation. She had much prior experience working with the Park Service. She contacted Jeff Sikich of the Park Service, visited Los Angeles, and Sikich gave her a tour of Griffith Park, and the Santa Monica Mountains. He also told her the plight these mountain lions were facing. When she asked what she and NWF could do to help, he responded, “’Well, there’s this little wildlife crossing I’ve been trying to get built. . .’ I responded, ‘Sure how hard can it be?’ I didn’t know it would be the next 10 years of my life.”

Asked how the loss of P-22 had affected her personally, she said, “It’s been devastating, He was just such a remarkable animal that I loved, and in some respects it was a serious relationship for over 10 years even though I only met him once right there at the end to say goodbye. I think we all knew this day was coming. We had talked about it; we knew he wasn’t going to live forever.” What made it difficult was she had to put her grief aside so she could do her job, speaking about him publicly and giving interviews. Everything happened very quickly at the end. He was captured, examined, and went through a lot of testing. In the beginning, the plan was to place him in a sanctuary to live out his days. When all the results of the tests came in, it was determined that, in addition to the injuries from the car, he had serious heart and kidney issues that would have required constant medical interventions. Those interventions would have been viable with a domesticated animal, but not with a wild one, as they would all have to be performed with anesthesia. This was hardly a doable solution for a 12-year-old wild animal. Pratt commented, “At that point no sanctuaries would take him because he needed not a sanctuary, but a managed care existence, where he would have to be treated and it just wasn’t realistic or even ethical to cause him suffering. That was where the decision came from.”

She concluded with some words to encourage us all, “What I’m really trying to focus on is, he’s left such a legacy that is only going to benefit conservation and wildlife. Boy, that’s a lot for that mountain lion, and he earned wherever he’s running right now. He’s somewhere where there’s lots of deer and no roads. That to me is a really hopeful thing that there may never be another mountain lion that makes it to Griffith Park, or that strolls down Sunset Boulevard, but he showed us that they could, and he also opened everybody’s eyes to what a lack of connectivity has done. You can’t close those eyes again, and hence we’re getting wildlife crossings built. That’s his gift to us I think, to show us what’s possible.” And with that, Beth Pratt picks up the torch.

To learn more about the National Wildlife Federation, go to: nwf.org

For information on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, go to: savelacougars.org