Famed mountain lion P-22 had 2 severe infections before his death never before documented in California pumas
Los Angeles' famed "Hollywood cat" P-22 had long been suffering from "multiple severe injuries and chronic conditions" at the time he had to be euthanized after being hit by a vehicle, officials said on Thursday. Without the final blow car accident, officials said, those conditions would have greatly impacted his ability to live.
P-22, known for roaming California's Hollywood Hills for more than a decade, was euthanized in December after officials found health issues and severe injuries stemming from what they believed to be from him getting hit by a car. That car accident, combined with his age, health conditions and "long-term veterinary intervention," resulted in there being "no hope for a positive outcome" at the time, officials said.
He was roughly 12 years old, one of the oldest mountain lions to be studied by the National Park Service.
But new necropsy results released on Wednesday reveal just how devastating P-22's health was at the time of his death.
"The results confirmed P-22 had been suffering from multiple severe injuries and chronic conditions that impaired his ability to function in the wild and would have lowered his quality of life if placed in human care," the National Park Service said in a news release.
Some of the most recent ailments P-22 suffered from included a bleeding orbital fracture and trauma to his head, which they found to be consistent with the reports that he had been hit by a vehicle the night before he was captured in December.
But he also had "significant trauma" dating farther back. His diaphragm had ruptured to such an extent that some of his liver and connective tissue were herniated and inside his chest cavity.
Officials said he was also "underweight, arthritic and had progressive and incurable kidney disease," all of which were determined before his death.
"He also had a severe parasitic skin infection over his entire body, caused by demodectic mange and a fungus, specifically ringworm," officials said. "This is the first documentation of a demodectic mange infection and a concurrent systemic ringworm infection in a California mountain lion."
Though it's not believed to have necessarily added to the elderly puma's declining health, officials also found that P-22 had been exposed to five rodenticides, which 96% of tested mountain lions have been exposed to. P-22 "had no evidence of AR poisoning," the necropsy found, and officials believe he may have been exposed to some of those compounds through his prey.
P-22 resided mostly in Los Angeles' Griffith Park after traveling there from where he was born on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains.
"That meant he likely crossed two major Los Angeles freeways, the 405 and 101, a feat other lions have died trying to do," the NPS has said, noting that although he made such an accomplishment, it did hinder his ability to reproduce. "The 9 square miles of Griffith Park may have been P-22's territory, but it was sorely too small — by a factor of about 31! — for an adult male. As an isolated patch of habitat, it was unlikely that he would ever find a female and produce offspring (and to our knowledge, he never did)."
But P-22 didn't have to produce offspring to make an impact on his species.
"Not only was he an important ambassador for urban wildlife, but his scientific contributions were also many," Jeff Sikich, lead field biologist of the NPS mountain lion study said. "He helped us understand how mountain lions coexist with humans in this complex urban landscape, and his legacy will live on through our heightened awareness of how to live in harmony with wild neighbors and growing public support for wildlife crossings."
