In January, National Park Service researchers recaptured P-22 and reported he recovered from a publicized 2014 bout with mange, believed to have been caused after he unknowingly ingested rat poison.
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Pratt said suggestions to relocate P-22 probably “wouldn’t end well for the mountain lion” because he’d end up in another adult male mountain lion’s territory and likely would be killed.
A mountain lion miraculously surviving in the urban mountains here is believed to have breached a 9-foot fence at the Los Angeles Zoo and mauled an 18-pound koala at night, officials said Thursday.
Zoo director John Lewis said this week that workers found the dead koala outside its pen on March 3.
Zoo cameras did not capture P-22 in the act, but officials said there is ample evidence to support their belief that the cougar found his way into the marsupial enclosure before making off with the koala, named Killarney.
Zoo workers were taking extra precautions after the incident, like locking up smaller animals in their barns at night. Lewis says the zoo will learn to adapt to the wild cougar, just like it has learned to adapt to the zoo.
P-22 lives in Griffith Park and gained fame when it was photographed striding past the Hollywood sign. “We should consider resettling him in the environment he needs”, he said. The other koalas were up in the trees”, he told the LA Times, describing the attack as “a pretty quick snatch ” .
When Killarney the koala bear went missing from his enclosure a week ago, Los Angeles Zoo officials scoured the grounds, reviewed surveillance video and hoped for the best.
Killarney weighed seven kilograms and arrived at the zoo in May 2010.
“The koalas have been removed from their public habitats for now, and other animals are being moved to their night quarters when the zoo closes”. “Mountain lions are a part of the natural habitat of Griffith Park and the adjacent hillsides” Ryu said.
“We were actually looking for bobcats, and what we found on that night was P-22”, Lewis said.
Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu agreed that relocation isn’t a good solution.
“It was kind of like ‘Whoa, ‘ ” Lewis said when they saw the six-year-old puma on camera.
P-22’s name was given by biologists studying mountain lions in Southern California.
This wasn’t the first time the beloved mountain lion was in a place where some believe he shouldn’t be.
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“Unfortunately, these types of incidents happen when we have a zoo in such close proximity to one of the largest urban parks in the country”, Barbara Romero, Los Angeles deputy mayor for city services, said in a statement. They are solitary animals that want to be left alone.
