Another Mountain Lion Killed On Highway In Southern California

P-81 is not any extra after he was struck by a car on a southern California freeway.

Courtesy Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Space

A male mountain lion tracked by wildlife officers and dubbed P-81 was discovered useless on the Pacific Coast Freeway in southern California final week after doubtless being struck by a automobile.

A necropsy is being carried out to verify the reason for loss of life.

P-81, who was 4 years previous, is one in every of 9 mountain lions fatally struck by automobiles simply since March of final 12 months within the Santa Monica Mountains analysis space close to Los Angeles. He was the thirty fourth mountain killed by a car since 2002. Car strikes are the primary reason for loss of life for the animals.

The fatality follows by simply over a month the loss of life of P-22, a beloved native mountain lion who was euthanized with severe accidents doubtless brought on by a car strike and different well being points. He was estimated to be 12 years previous on the time of his loss of life.

1) We're saddened to share mountain lion P-81 was doubtless killed by car strike Sunday, Jan. 22.😢@CaliforniaDFW officers collected P-81’s physique on the Pacific Coast Freeway close to Las Posas Street within the western Santa Monica Mountains. A necropsy can be carried out to verify pic.twitter.com/MrCDUE1ktQ

— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) January 27, 2023

P-81 was important to the analysis into the realm’s mountain lion inhabitants as a result of his bodily abnormalities, together with a kinked tail and a deformed reproductive organ.

The abnormalities had been doubtless as a result of inbreeding, which is a serious drawback within the space as a result of the animals’ actions in quest of mates are constrained by improvement and a system of harmful highways. The world’s massive cat inhabitants has among the lowest genetic range ever documented, which is a danger to the animals’ well being.

2) P-81 was round 4 years previous. We initially captured him in western Santa Monica Mountains in March 2020. He was important in our mountain lion examine as a result of his bodily abnormalities – a kinked tail the place the tip is formed just like the letter “L” and just one descended testicle. pic.twitter.com/cY40siHaT9

— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) January 27, 2023

3)These abnormalities had been the primary bodily proof of potential inbreeding despair as a result of lack of genetic range since we started learning mountain lions in 2002, growing the urgency of understanding, sustaining, and growing connectivity for wildlife within the area

— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) January 27, 2023

Wildlife officers and advocates are working to complete and defend a protected wildlife hall so mountain lions and different animals can journey important distances within the space with out having to cross highways.

When environmentalists first proposed a wildlife bridge to assist animals cross Freeway 101, the late P-22 turned the face of the venture. He additionally was the poster animal for efforts to ban rodenticides after he turned unwell in 2014 following his publicity to rat poison.

4) The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway, at present below building in Agoura Hills, is a serious and significant step in connecting wildlife populations within the Santa Monica Mountains, together with mountain lions, with different populations to the north.

— Santa Monica Mtns (@SantaMonicaMtns) January 27, 2023

RIP Huge boy. Might you roam in heaven's fields the place there aren't any vehicles. 😥

— Zoomkat_T (@zoomkat) January 28, 2023

Los Angeles and Mumbai are the solely two megacities on the planet with a inhabitants of mountain lions.

The inhabitants within the Santa Monica Mountains space is comparatively steady, however consultants concern growing dangers amid improvement, extra visitors, and the rising use of rat poison.