Young cougar dies alongside 101 Freeway
A young mountain lion born to great fanfare in the Santa Monica Mountains during 2020's “Summer of Kittens” — and photographed with his baby brother and sister in their mother's den — died on the 101 Freeway in Woodland Hills after being struck by a vehicle.
The 2-year-old male known as P-89 was found dead early Monday along the shoulder of the freeway between the De Soto Avenue and Winnetka Avenue exits, according to officials from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Biologists noticed the young cougar's electronic pings coming from his radio collar, indicating the cat had not moved for several hours. The GPS information led them to the side of the freeway, where they recovered his body, said Ana Beatriz Cholo, spokesperson for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the U.S. National Park Service.
“He was hit in the head, but his body is completely intact. He looks like he's sleeping,” Cholo said.
The body was taken to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in San Bernardino where a necropsy will be performed, she said.
P-89 was the son of P-65, his mother, who died recently, Cholo said. He was also the brother to P-88, a female cat whose whereabouts are unknown, and P-90, his brother.
Collared cats are being studied by National Park Service biologists and are given letter and number identifications. Collared cougars living in the Santa Monica Mountains number about 10, she said. Another 15 or more are living in the area but are not being tracked.
It is not known why the young
mountain lion was on the freeway. P-89 was known to be living in the Woodland Hills area. Often the stealth lions are on the prowl for food and this may have been the case since his mother was no longer around to feed him.
“This was the fourth mountain lion in our study to die from road mortality this year,” Cholo said.
It also was the 30th mountain lion killed since the Park Service began studying them 20 years ago, she said.
P-89's brother, P-90, has been more fortunate. He successfully crossed the 101 Freeway in June near