Another mountain lion seen in Los Angeles

Dec. 6, 2014

Second mountain lion spotted in heart of Los Angeles Big cat photographed loping down a street near Mulholland Drive. By Mary Papenfuss.

Second-mountain-lion-spotted-in-heart-of-Los-Angeles.jpg This is mountain lion "P-22," which crossed the freeway into Griffith Park two years ago. Now a second one has come to the city. (National Park Service)

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- What appears to be a second mountain lion has been spotted in the heart of Los Angeles. A ghostly photo of the big cat running down a residential street near Mullholland Drive was captured by a security camera near the wealthy gated community of Beverly Park and posted on Twitter by musician Chris Stills, son of '60s rocker Stephen Stills.

The mountain lion appears to be about a year old and likely crossed the 405 Freeway from the Santa Monica Mountains. The freeway has long presented a formidable barrier between wildlife in the mountains and L.A. to the east. As many as nine of the big cats, not including kittens, live in the mountains but are hemmed in by highways and ocean.

The new Los Angeles resident may be one of two juvenile mountain lions who recently left their mother and are now seeking their own territory, according to Kate Kuykendall, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. A different mountain lion, designated "P-22" or "Puma-22" also apparently crossed the freeway two years ago — and another highway — to take up residence in Griffith Park. He was sickly and suffering from mange early this year, but appears to be on the mend and was recently spotted munching on a mule deer carcass in the park.

The big cat wears a GPS tracking device, and park biologists treated him in March with medications and Vitamin K injections. If the young cat just spotted keeps going to Griffith Park, there could be trouble between the two animals, say wildlife experts.

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