Famous P-22 Mountain Lion Goes For Walk Deep In The City

LOS ANGELES, CA — A mountain lion seen roaming a densely populated Silver Lake neighborhood Tuesday night is the famous LA cougar known as P-22, the National Park Service confirmed.

Dubbed the "Brad Pitt of mountain lions" (he’s famous, he photographs well and he’s single) the celebrity cat thrilled and terrified residents Tuesday when he strolled down Silver Lake Boulevard to Berkeley Circle.

A video widely shared on social media shows the cat walking down the sidewalk at 7 p.m. past cars and headlights, and lounging beside trash cans.

Silver Lake resident Chris Blim told the Los Angeles Times he was standing outside talking to a friend when something caused the light on his neighbor’s doorbell camera to turn on.

“We’re just standing there looking at each other and the light goes off,” he said. “The only thing you see is the eyes, and that’s when the heart drops. This is not a house cat.”

While Blim and his friend withdrew behind his fence, others were drawn to P-22, following and filming him from their cars.

That has wildlife experts a little worried.

“We need to have a healthy respect for these animals. They deserve that. They are wild animals, not cute pets,” said Ana Beatriz Cholo, a public information officer for the National Park Service, which has been tracking P-22 for 10 years.

P-22 has his own Facebook and Instagram pages, and has appeared on the cover of National Geographic.

“People hear about P-22 and think ‘this is our celebrity local mountain lion,’” said Beatriz Cholo. “If you are in an urban area, you might feel a little safer and might feel tempted to take a photo, but don’t. Give him space to get past you.”

No one really knows why P-22 wandered so far from Griffith Park to the streets of Silver Lake, said Beatriz Cholo.

“We wish we knew. We wish we could ask him. We can’t even make educated guesses,” she said.
P-22 has ample access to his favorite food — mule deer — in Griffith Park, and there are no other lions known to be in the area to battle for territory. There are no female lions in the area for him to mate with. At 12 years old — he’s the oldest mountain lion being tracked — it seems unlikely he would be searching for a mate."

But if there is one thing P-22 is famous for, it’s his tendency to wander. He’s the only big cat ever known to cross both the San Diego (405) and Hollywood (101) freeways, a death-defying trek that has claimed the lives of several other lions.

In 2014, he developed a bad case of mange likely from ingesting rat poisoning used by some homeowners in the neighborhoods around Griffith Park.

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In 2015, he made himself at home in the crawlspace of a Los Feliz home, much to the befuddlement of the homeowners and biologists alike.

In 2016, he was accused of mauling a koala to death at the Los Angeles Zoo. The incident prompted some officials at the time to consider relocating him before disaster struck.

But he’s remained at the park, and he does make the occasional foray outside the park.

“He does occasionally venture out into more urban areas, as most people who live around Griffith Park can attest,” said Beatriz Cholo.

However, he’s never been known to wander in such a densely populated area as Silver Lake.

According to Beatriz Cholo, P-22’s last GPS collar ping came in the middle of the night from just east of the lake in Silver Lake — an area with the kind of dense shrubs that lions like.

In the meantime, park service biologists will be watching closely to see what the world’s most famous mountain lion is up to.

“We’ll know more about his whereabouts tonight,” predicted Beatriz Cholo.

SEE ALSO:

• Famous Griffith Park Mountain Lion Shacks Up in Mansion's Crawl Space
• Celebrity Cougar P-22 Receives New Collar, Status Update
• Lion Becomes Instant Legend For Crossing The 405 Freeway
• It's A Girl! Meet LA's Newest Mountain Lion
• Mountain Lion Killed Trying to Cross the Freeway
• P-22 Mountain Lion To Be Featured In Nature Mural In Watts
• Gavin Newsom To Speak At Mountain Lion P-22 Festival