Tagged lion now known as P-95

Researchers name a newly tagged L.A. mountain lion.

The biologists learned of their latest target — a mountain lion waiting to be tagged with a GPS radio collar — by text. Sent by a cage. In the Santa Monica Mountains.

Lured by the meat of roadkill deer, the young male entered the trap and when the cage door slid shut, it triggered a text message that sent biologists to the scene the night of Jan. 17.

This new addition, named P-95, brings the number of mountain lions being tracked in Los Angeles County by the National Parks Service to 10.

Jeff Sikich, a biologist with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, is reluctant to give too many details about how the cougars are located.

The team scopes out a possible area with remote cameras, he said. When they see a lion, they try to capture it for tagging.

Once they reach the cat, it is tranquilized. Scientists have roughly an hour to attach the collar, take physical measurements, check the animal’s general health, tag the ear, and collect blood and tissue samples.

P-95 weighed in at 90 pounds and is about 1 1/2 years old. The biologists determined he was in good condition after examining him “from the bottom of his paws to the teeth in his head,” then released him, according to a Facebook post from the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

P-95 joins nine other mountain lions being tracked. Seven, including P-95, roam the Santa Monica Mountains and two are in the Simi Hills. P-22, who lives in Griffith Park, once hid out in the crawl space of a Los Feliz home and is suspected of killing a koala at the Los Angeles Zoo.