A Puma Who Captured the Heart of a City
A Puma Who Captured the Heart of a City
Los Angeles says goodbye to a wild-animal superstar/ The wildlife crossing he inspired
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HE WAS A FOUR-LEGGED CELEBRITY IN A CITY FULL OF FAMOUS PEOPLE. The story of P-22, the wild mountain lion who lived in Los Angeles' Griffith Park for about ten years, is remarkable. Not only did he cross two major freeways spanning 12 lanes of high-speed cars, but he used his cat instincts to survive inside a city of almost four million people.
He was radio-collared at an early age and wore that clunky neck monitor for most of his life. It was a human sign that we had some control over him, since we knew where he was. He was euthanized last December when his condition deteriorated.
The poignant goodbye Los Angeles residents gave him this month (February 4, 2023) at L.A.'s Greek Theatre was a fitting tribute to "The Hollywood Cat" who became an icon of the wild. Celebrities and politicians praised his resilience and mourned his passing. Songs were sung and tears were shed. His story shifted our complacency.
What drew P-22 into the nation's second-largest city? When male mountain lions (also called cougars or pumas in the West) reach one year old, they strike out to find their own territory and breeding opportunities. They also seek escape from older adult males who might kill younger rivals.
P-22 was born nearby in the Santa Monica mountains and was hemmed in by development and major freeways when he set out to look for his territory.
Large predators such as mountain lions (Puma concolor) usually roam over 200 square miles looking for food and mates. P-22 had only about nine square miles, less than 5% of the usual mountain lion territory. Without safe wildlife corridors out of the city, he could not migrate towards more open areas, and he never found a mate.
He survived by mostly eating smaller wild animals and birds, sometimes ones that had consumed rodent poisons through the food chain. P-22 was affected by those poisons, too— a reminder that any toxic substance we use can spread to wildlife. At the end of his life, an examination of his body revealed he had been hit by a car at some point, maybe while trying to cross the freeways again.
I first heard of this story from Beth Pratt, the National Wildlife Federation's California director. She posted updates about P-22 on Twitter, hosted the Greek Theatre memorial, and delivered a heartfelt eulogy for him there.
Beth was surprised when the tickets to the event sold out within hours. It was live-streamed for locals who couldn't attend in person. L.A. and Hollywood are good at turning mortals into stars, and they did that with P-22. Cardboard images of P-22 shared the same stage as countless stars who had come before him in the famous outdoor theater.
P-22 never got to be a mountain lion. His whole life, he suffered the consequences of (living in such a highly urban area). ... The most fitting memorial to P-22 will be how we carry his story forward in our work. One crossing is not enough ... we must build more.
Beth Pratt, CA Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation
Beth was also instrumental in raising awareness to build the world's largest vegetated wildlife crossing and says it could have saved P-22 by giving him a safe route out of the city. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is under construction to span the busy 101 freeway in Los Angeles County, with completion scheduled for 2025.
I wondered why somebody gave the name P-22 to this lion. Using letters and numbers seems to objectify the subject, turning him into a "thing" and putting distance between the animal and us.
One scientist explained that the P stands for Puma, and the 22 meant it was the 22nd Puma to be collared and part of a study. While that makes sense, P-22 sounds too technical and clinically neutral for a furry, warm-blooded predator. The famous primatologist Jane Goodall always advocated using names for animals being studied rather than letter-number combos.
Angelinos (L.A. residents) were surveyed to ask them for the best name for this cat. While the common-usage name P-22 won out, the second-highest vote went to Pounce de Leon.
P-22 inspired everything from museum displays, videos, songs, articles, public events, tee-shirts, and hundreds of tattoos. Congressman Adam Schiff proposed a P-22 postage stamp.
Hollywood made P-22 a mascot and its own cat. While he was a celebrity in the human world, his life was probably not easy hiding out in a city of that size. Griffith Park is in a treed and hilly area, but it still echoes with the sounds of traffic and humans and gets over ten million visitors a year.
What did this lion do for us? Did his story crack open more empathy for wildlife struggling in a human-dominated world? Did it spark grief for the losses and extinctions mounting up daily? Maybe P-22's story connected us to our love for the more-than-human world, and our concern over its diminishment.
It might have taken a lion to capture our attention. The lion symbolizes courage, strength, wisdom, fearlessness, and protection. We need some of those admirable lion qualities as we chart our way into the future and build better relationships with animals everywhere.
One of this lion's enduring legacies will be the new wildlife overpass he showed we needed. His entrapment behind freeways introduced more people to the need for wildlife corridors—"freeways" for animals. As California Congressman Ted Lieu said, "One of the best ways to honor P-22 is to make sure the lives of other wild animals will be saved."
We often have mixed feelings about top predators—fear and fascination clash— and the animal usually loses. P-22 taught us that we could have better relationships with predators and even peacefully co-exist. Thanks for that lesson, dear Puma, and happy hunting for your lion-hearted spirit.
Robin Applegarth
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Connecting and rewilding habitat corridors is crucial to protecting and reintroducing wild species. Mostly, wildlife will return if native plants come back and human influence is lessened. I like what I’ve been hearing about Heartland Rewilding efforts in the Midwest https://heartlandrewilding.projectcoyote.org/
We need more of these efforts to reach a goal of 30% of land and seas protected by 2030– the 30x30 goal. Thanks for bringing up this important topic Patrick!
What are your views on habitat fragmentation and connectivity?
That question should be asked of every county and city commissioner in the country, and voters should base their decisions accordingly. So much is already diminished and little if any consideration is given to harm caused by the term "GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT".