A 3-year-old cougar named P-55 who made news recently during a visit to a residence in Westlake Village earlier this year, was found dead by biologists with the National Park Service’s Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area.
NPS spokeswoman Kate Kuykendall said; ” he was a beautiful animal who survived longer than most males in the Santa Monica Mountains, but ultimately met his end at a relatively young age,”
The mountain lion was also locally famous for successfully crossing the freeway last August for a second time, which hopefully won’t be necessary with the new Wildlife Bridge that is now in the design phase. The NPS shared a video showing P-55 rubbing his cheeks on rocks, not knowing he’s on hidden camera.
Unfortunately, it is not clear how P-55 died as his collar did not emit a “mortality signal” NPS spokesman Kuykendall said, adding that his remains were too decomposed when biologists finally found them. But researchers suspect the “seemingly healthy” puma could have been the victim of rodenticide poisoning.
Wildlife officials also said it’s possible he lost a fight with another male mountain lion, though there were no signs of a struggle in the area.
P-55’s home territory was on the northwestern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, Kuykendall said, “generally west of Las Virgenes Road and mostly north of Mulholland.”
There are an estimated 10 to 15 cougars in the Santa Monica Mountains, and the small population is rapidly becoming inbred, researchers say. Within 50 years, the local lion population could go extinct due to inbreeding, according to a 2016 UCLA study.
Malibu is still infested with poisonous rodenticide boxes being used by residents and businesses. professional extermination companies are using them as well and the danger of our pets coming in contact with them is growing if they are not banned quickly.
This practice must be to be stopped regionally, statewide and nationally.
Please Support Kian and Joel Schulman at Poison Free Malibu in their effort to push our city and state in the right direction
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