Yahoo Movies Another beloved mountain lion was struck and killed on California highway, rangers say
A mountain lion found dead on a scenic California highway was likely struck by a vehicle, according to wildlife officials.
P-81, a 4-year-old male, was killed Sunday, Jan. 22, on the Pacific Coast Highway in the western Santa Monica Mountains, the National Park Service said in a Jan. 27 news release.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife collected P-81, and a necropsy will be done to confirm the cause of death, rangers said.
After the news of P-81’s death was shared on Twitter, users were quick to share their mourning.
“My heart is broken,” one user wrote.
“RIP Big boy,” another wrote. “May you roam in heaven’s fields where there are no cars.”
Some users also urged state officials to do more to protect wildlife in the area.
“We need more wildlife crossings and ASAP,” a Twitter user wrote. “It is vital to the survival of so many species, especially our big cats.”
The leading cause of death for mountain lions in the area is vehicle strikes, according to rangers.
Nine mountain lions have been struck and killed by a vehicle since March 2022, rangers said. P-81’s death marks the 34th mountain lion killed on the road in the area since 2002.
P-81’s death also comes a little more than a month after the iconic mountain lion P-22 was euthanized on Dec. 17 due to numerous injuries and other health problems, McClatchy News reported. P-22 was captured days prior in the backyard of a Los Feliz home following reports it had killed a dog and been hit by a car.
P-81, first captured for study in March 2020, was “significant” in the National Park Service’s study of mountain lions in the area “due to his physical abnormalities – a kinked tail in which the end is shaped like the letter ‘L’ and only one descended testicle,” rangers said.
2) P-81 was around 4 years old. We initially captured him in western Santa Monica Mountains in March 2020. He was significant in our mountain lion study due to his physical abnormalities – a kinked tail where the end is shaped like the letter “L” and only one descended testicle. pic.twitter.com/cY40siHaT9
— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) January 27, 2023
His abnormalities were signs of “potential inbreeding depression” that resulted from a “lack of genetic diversity,” rangers said. Such findings increased “the urgency of understanding, maintaining, and ideally increasing connectivity for wildlife in the region.”
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing currently being built over the 101 Freeway “is a major and critical step in connecting wildlife populations in the Santa Monica Mountains, including mountain lions, with other populations to the north,” rangers said.
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