P-22, the celebrity mountain lion of Los Angeles, has died - Los Angeles Times

The upland lion P-22 — who lived successful the bosom of Los Angeles for much than a decennary and became the look of an planetary run to prevention California’s threatened puma colonisation — was “compassionately euthanized” Saturday greeting due to the fact that of injuries the feline apt suffered aft being deed by a car this week and semipermanent wellness concerns, officials said.

In a tearful quality conference, doctors described a fig of chronic illnesses that whitethorn person accounted to the upland lion’s unorthodox behaviour successful caller months, earlier announcing P-22 “went to sleep” astatine astir 9 a.m. connected Saturday.

“This truly hurts and I cognize that. It’s been an incredibly trouble respective days,” said Chuck Bonham, manager of the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. “And for myself I’ve felt the full value of the metropolis of Los Angeles.”

The feline was captured successful a Los Feliz backyard earlier this week, and had to beryllium tranquilized and taken successful for aesculapian evaluation. Days earlier that, wildlife officials said they had received an anonymous study that P-22 had been struck by a car.

“P-22 had a fig of terrible injuries and chronic wellness problems, his prognosis was deemed poor,” Bonham said Saturday morning.

The feline suffered a skull fracture, an wounded to his close eye, herniated organs and a torn diaphragm, according to Hendrik Nollens, vice president of wildlife wellness astatine the San Diego Zoo. In caller days, doctors besides discovered P-22 had Stage 2 kidney failure, precocious renal disease, precocious liver illness and was besides suffering from a parasitic infection.

Bonham said wildlife officials began considering euthanasia connected Thursday night.

“This greeting was the astir practicable benignant of infinitesimal for the procedure, knowing the arrangements that needed to beryllium made,” Bonham said. “I volition remainder hoping that yesterday mightiness person been his past champion time versus benignant of continuing his concern and yet his past time being his worst day.”

P-22 was thought to beryllium astir 12 years old.

Wildlife biologists with the National Park Service and the state’s wildlife section captured the upland lion successful December aft helium began to grounds expanding “signs of distress,” including 3 attacks connected dogs in a period and respective near-miss encounters with radical walking successful Los Feliz and Silver Lake.

A bid of wellness exams showed that P-22 was importantly underweight, with a thinning overgarment and harm to his close eye, perchance from being deed by a car. A section carnal power section had received a telephone reporting a conveyance collision with a upland lion, and P-22’s vigor collar placed him adjacent the intersection wherever the clang was reported, officials said.

A distant camera captures P-22 passing a nighttime Hollywood motion successful Griffith Park.

(Steve Winter/National Geographic)

The upland lion was not steadfast capable to beryllium released backmost to Griffith Park, authorities wildlife officials said. Advocates, scientists and residents had harbored hopes that the beloved carnal would beryllium steadfast capable to discontinue to a quality preserve.

P-22 amazed the satellite successful 2012 erstwhile his fluffy hindquarters and black-tipped process appeared connected a photograph snapped by a motion-sensing camera successful Griffith Park. The teen feline had made an improbable trek to Griffith Park from his apt birthplace successful the Santa Monica Mountains, journeying done the Hollywood Hills and crossed the 405 and 101 freeways.

P-22 was archetypal introduced to the satellite successful a Los Angeles Times story. The large feline soon became a bona fide celebrity, appearing successful a glossy National Geographic diagnostic that showed the upland lion prowling past the Hollywood motion astatine night, muscles rippling nether his tawny fur.

Scientists assumed the apex predator would determination connected successful hunt of a mate and much abstraction to roam. Instead, the wayward feline stayed successful Los Feliz for much than 10 years, feasting connected mule cervid and raccoons and occasionally appearing connected video doorbell cameras connected quiet, hilly streets adjacent the park. The feline lived unsocial and, arsenic acold arsenic scientists tin tell, ne'er mated.

Catching a glimpse of P-22 connected a nighttime prowl became 1 of the astir coveted personage sightings successful Los Angeles.

Like galore cougars, which are sometimes called “ghost cats,” P-22 was shy by nature. For years, helium preferred the park’s acheronian canyons and hillsides — and, sometimes, a darkened metropolis sidewalk — to populated areas. But helium had precocious started to task deeper into L.A., wandering arsenic acold southbound arsenic Silver Lake and staying successful residential areas for longer stretches of time.

Those forays coincided with an summation successful run-ins with humans, including attacking 3 dogs successful the span of a month, and chasing a antheral and his canine backmost up a acceptable of steps and into their location successful Silver Lake, wildlife officials said.

P-22’s find successful the parkland successful 2012 led to 1 of the astir antithetic elements of his life: the metropolis taking his side, alternatively of demanding that helium beryllium removed. Big cats prowl ample swaths of the United States, but fewer cities would let a cougar to unrecorded successful their midst, fto unsocial enactment for a decade.

Many Angelenos saw themselves successful P-22, an aging bachelor who adjusted to a too-small abstraction successful the large city, waiting for a mate who mightiness ne'er arrive. Others identified with his story, crossing borders and freeways successful hunt of a spot helium could telephone home.

“Crossing the border, being persecuted successful immoderate areas of the state — radical consciousness a transportation with that,” said Miguel Ordeñana, the idiosyncratic who archetypal discovered P-22, successful a 2022 interview.

P-22 went connected to execute the benignant of lasting fame of which astir Angelenos tin lone dream. His photogenic face, including acheronian markings astir the eyes that resembled eyeliner, appeared successful a documentary and an grounds astatine Los Angeles County’s Natural History Museum. The large feline was featured connected socks, tattoos and bumper stickers. And by bid of the City Council, each Oct. 22 was celebrated arsenic “P-22 Day.”

P-22’s beingness successful Griffith Park was a reminder that Los Angeles is acold wilder than it appears, with 1 of the highest levels of biologic diverseness of immoderate large metropolis successful North America. The large cat’s isolation successful the park, surrounded by freeways, helped him go the poster feline for the conservation run called “Save L.A. Cougars.”

On Saturday, Bonham noted P-22’s presumption arsenic an biology icon and said helium hoped the cat’s decease would service arsenic a reminder to Angelenos and developers that the city’s residents request to find amended ways to coexist with nature.

“I cognize this greeting that you consciousness you’ve mislaid your king but he’s never, ever gonna beryllium forgotten … we enactment him successful this predicament due to the fact that of our built environment,” Bonham said. “We tin hole this. We request everyone to basal up … to hole that built situation truthful these majestic animals person the state to roam.”

The 101 Freeway forms an astir impenetrable obstruction for the threatened puma colonisation successful the Santa Monica Mountains, cutting them disconnected from a wider cistron excavation to the north. That has led to inbreeding that has caused genetic abnormalities and could pb to infertility.

Recent technological modeling has drawn a dire conclusion: Without intervention, pumas successful the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains could beryllium extinct wrong 50 years.

California quality activists spent much than a decennary raising $77 cardinal successful backstage donations and authorities backing for a wildlife bridge crossed a 10-lane agelong of the 101 successful Agoura Hills, which they anticipation volition widen the breed’s cistron pool. The plight of P-22, unsocial successful a tiny territory hemmed successful by freeways, drew enactment from astir the world, including from Leonardo DiCaprio’s charitable foundation.

The authorities broke ground connected the wildlife span successful April. Its presence, advocates say, whitethorn beryllium P-22’s astir lasting contribution.

“His communicative of being isolated and trapped is what truly got radical to recognize wherefore a crossing similar that was needed, much than immoderate technological insubstantial could,” said Beth Pratt, a determination enforcement manager successful California for the National Wildlife Federation, who called herself P-22’s agent. “He changed the satellite for his kind.”

Pumas are truthful retiring that they’re sometimes called “ghost cats,” and P-22 often went days without being spotted. But determination were high-profile hijinks, too.

About 2 years aft arriving successful the park, P-22 appeared connected trail-camera footage looking gaunt, his process arsenic bladed arsenic a tube cleaner. The NPS trapped and treated him with topical medications and vitamin K injections, past released him.

Tests aboriginal confirmed that P-22 had been exposed to rat poison and was suffering from mange, a parasitic mite. The photograph released of the large feline portion sick went viral, showing the once-handsome look bedraggled, the eyes sagging.

The representation helped spur enactment successful the California Legislature and yet led to a 2020 instrumentality temporarily banning immoderate kinds of rat poison.

A fewer months later, a contractor for a home-security institution recovered the feline lounging successful a crawl abstraction beneath a location successful the hills of Los Feliz. Soon, helicopters were hovering supra the street, covering the incidental similar an FBI raid. One section quality presumption added a caption that screamed: “BREAKING NEWS: P-22 TRAPPED INSIDE HOME.”

When officials yet cleared the area, P-22 slipped back, unseen, to Griffith Park.

In 2016, P-22 became the premier fishy successful the decease of a 14-year-old koala named Killarney, whose mutilated assemblage was recovered astir 400 yards distant from her enclosure astatine the Los Angeles Zoo. The onslaught was not recorded, but the zoo’s surveillance cameras placed the puma astatine the scene. Few animals tin easy leap implicit an 8-foot obstruction topped with barbed wire.

After the attack, a metropolis councilman suggested that P-22 beryllium moved to a caller habitat, saying Griffith Park was “ultimately not suitable for him.” But wherever the puma could spell stymied the discussion. Moving P-22 to immoderate mountainous country already occupied by different upland lion could beryllium a decease sentence, due to the fact that the large cats termination to support their territory.

The zoo, however, took P-22’s side. The zoo’s manager of carnal programs aboriginal told a Times reporter: “We’re successful Griffith Park, and Griffith Park is his home, and we person to respect that. You can’t clasp a upland lion accountable for being a upland lion.”

A memorial work volition beryllium held for the large feline aft Christmas, though circumstantial plans person not been released. With tears streaming down her face, Pratt said she would beryllium gathering with mourners successful Griffith Park connected Saturday.