A pile lion named P-22 is making headlines today for being hear at heart — andeventually escaping from — a Los Angeles basement . In this selection from his new book about the urban wild , Tristan Donovan give us the origin story of P-22 .
The discovery of P-22 , the mountain king of beasts that lives in Griffith Park , was pure fluke . The park is part of the Santa Monica Mountains , but thanks to the Los Angeles sprawl it is cut off from the rest of the range by the Hollywood Freeway and urban development .
Griffith Park ’s strange position as an island of natural habitat in an sea of maturation had long pique the interest of biologists .
Among them Miguel Ordeñana of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County . He was knifelike to find out out if animals were traveling in and out of the green when the only safe routes to and fro were a few bridges and subway crossing the busy Hollywood Freeway .
To shed some light on this , Miguel put gesture - observe cameras around the park and the route over US 101 to get photograph of passing brute . He was n’t looking for mickle social lion .
“ I was looking through the photos one afternoon , hoping to see a bobcat as that was the most uncommon , cool thing at the meter , ” says Miguel . “ I went through the photos and was really excited to see a bobcat in there .
“ I was really pumped about that and then , all of a sudden , I go to the next photo and see a bounteous mountain lion in the painting . It was just amazing . As before long as I saw it I contacted my pardner and Laurel . ”
Laurel Serieys had been helping out with a National Park Service undertaking traverse mountain social lion in the Santa Monicas . Like Miguel , she was shocked . “ The park is too minuscule for a normal mountain lion gang , ” she say . “ He most belike cross two state highway to get there , and it is unusual to see a mess lion crossing a major freeway successfully . ”
Soon after , the National Park Service entrap the then three - year - old animal so they could give him a wireless taking into custody that would permit them track his motility . They christened him P-22 .
The park service has been follow P-22 around Griffith Park ever since . One area of keen interest , given his proximity to the metropolis , is his dieting , so every calendar week Laurel and Miguel have been heading into the parking area to hold back out locating where P-22 was hanging around for foresighted periods to attempt to regain the remains of his killing .
They invited me along on one of their trip . The destination ? To visit three suspected P-22 kill sites .
P-22 in a still from NHMLA’s2013 TV footageshot in Griffith Park
It ’s a busy , hot Sunday morning when I join Laurel and Miguel at the ballpark . The footpaths are filled with jogger and hikers , but we soon depart from the crowds to head into more rugged terrain .
As we struggle up a steep mound , I require Laurel what they desire to pick up from P-22 ’s remnant . “ A lot of people have misconceptions about what the wild animals are eating , ” she pronounce . “ So it ’s a general dieting study to show that they are eating deer like they are supposed to , even in these very urban surround . ”
Mountain lion opt to eat deer and elk . In the Santa Ana Mountains on the other side of L.A. , mule deer make up 95 per centum of what cougars eat . Coyotes report for another 4 percent of their diet . Mountain lions very seldom prey on pet , even when they are readily available . Nor do they often jeopardize close to houses .
“ Mountain lions are not even getting close to hoi polloi ’s yards , ” say Laurel . “ So for the National Park Service spate lion sight , the majority of the mountain Panthera leo location they get from the receiving set collars are a klick away from even roads . ”
So it ’s something of a surprisal when the third killing web site of the day takes us out of Griffith Park and onto a road . After getting our bearing we figure out that the localization is up the driveway of a large house . We point to the front door .
Laurel checks the function again . The site seems to lie right behind the house , although Laurel does n’t think the kill happened in the backyard . “ On the satellite image it looks like there ’s more overt space behind the property than we can see from here , but those icon are a few yr sometime so it ’s hard to know exactly what is there . ”
But there ’s no fashion to regain out without going through the sign , and that ’s a trouble . After all , what is the etiquette for turning up on someone ’s doorsill , plastered in shit and dripping with sweat , to ask if you may see their backyard because you believe a lion killed something proper by their house ?
After a short discussion , we resolve to leave empty - handed .
On the way back , Miguel tells me how he hope P-22 will make mass less frightened about cougars living near urban center . “ The media likes to make these mountain lions seem very dangerous , but give P-22 right in this very urban surface area in a little park is a will to how , even in these urban areas , they are not going to be like a brush wolf and set about require for solid food , ” he says .
Top image : pic by Steve Winter / National Wildlife Federation
Adapted with permission fromFeral city : Adventures with Animals in the Urban Jungleby Tristan Donovan , write by Chicago Review Press .
BooksCitiesMountain Lionurbanism
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , scientific discipline , and polish news in your inbox day by day .
News from the future , fork over to your present tense .
You May Also Like
