P-22, the celebrated mountain lion that took up residence in the middle of Los Angeles and became a symbol of urban pressures on wildlife, has been euthanased because of severe health problems, California officials say.
The ageing mountain lion, thought to be about 12 years old, was captured in a Los Feliz backyard on December 12 amid fears he had been struck by a car and was suffering other health problems.
The big cat, who had traversed busy highways to take up residence in and around Los Angeles' Griffith Park, became a symbol of campaigns to save California's threatened mountain lion population.
He was euthanased at 9am on Saturday at San Diego Zoo Safari Park, officials at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said.
Tests on P-22 revealed "significant trauma to the mountain lion's head, right eye and internal organs, confirming the suspicion of recent injury, such as a vehicle strike," officials said.
The scan confirmed an anonymous report that indicated P-22 may have been struck by a vehicle.
The examination also uncovered irreversible kidney disease, chronic weight loss, extensive parasitic skin infection over his entire body and localised arthritis.
"Based on these factors, compassionate euthanasia under general aesthesia was unanimously recommended by the medical team at San Diego Zoo Safari Park," the CDFW said.
The agency's director Chuck Bonham fought back tears during a news conference announcing the cougar's death.
"His prognosis was deemed poor,” he said.
“This really hurts … it's been an incredibly difficult several days."
'An ambassador for his species'
The animal became the face of the campaign to build a wildlife crossing over a Los Angeles-area freeway to give mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, deer and other animals a safe path between the nearby Santa Monica Mountains and wildlands to the north.
Seth Riley, wildlife branch chief with the National Park Service, called P-22 “an ambassador for his species”, with the bridge a symbol of his lasting legacy.
His name was his number in a National Park Service study of the challenges the wide-roaming big cats face in habitat fragmented by urban sprawl and hemmed in by massive freeways that are not only dangerous to cross but are also barriers to the local population's genetic diversity.
The cougar was regularly recorded on security cameras strolling through residential areas near his home in Griffith Park, an oasis of hiking trails and picnic areas in the middle of the city.
P-22 was outfitted with a tracking collar in 2012. A year later his celebrity was solidified when he appeared in a National Geographic feature with an iconic photo of the big cat on an LA hillside with the Hollywood sign in the background.
"P-22's survival on an island of wilderness in the heart of Los Angeles captivated people around the world and revitalised efforts to protect our diverse native species and ecosystems," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement Saturday.
In 2017, the cougar became the star of a permanent exhibit at the Natural History Museum called "The Story of P-22, LA's Most Famous Feline" that documents the lion's life and times in Southern California.
The exhibit will be upgraded next year to pay tribute to the animal's legacy, officials said Saturday.
"Mountain lion P-22 has had an extraordinary life and captured the hearts of the people of Los Angeles and beyond," the CDFW said in a statement.
"The most difficult, but compassionate choice was to respectfully minimise his suffering and stress by humanely ending his journey."
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