Since capturing P-22 earlier this week, wildlife officers struggled with the most effective path for the celeb mountain lion who spent greater than a decade roaming Griffith Park and the hillsides of Los Angeles.
State officers in the end determined to euthanize P-22 at 9 a.m. Saturday morning as a consequence of critical well being points. Here’s what we all know concerning the mountain lion and his deteriorating situation.
“This actually hurts and I do know that. It’s been an extremely troublesome a number of days,” stated Chuck Bonham, director of the California Division of Fish and Wildlife. “And for myself I’ve felt the complete weight of town of Los Angeles.”
Well being points
The massive cat suffered a cranium fracture, herniated organs and a torn diaphragm, in keeping with Hendrik Nollens, vice chairman of wildlife well being on the San Diego Zoo, the place P-22 was euthanized.
The accidents had been largely doubtless brought on by a collision with a automobile final week, officers stated.
The massive cat additionally had kidney failure, superior liver illness, coronary heart illness and a parasitic an infection, officers stated.
P-22 weighed about 90 kilos, a lack of practically one-fourth of his typical physique weight. He additionally had a thinning coat and harm to his proper eye, probably from the automobile collision. A neighborhood animal management division had acquired a name reporting a automobile collision with a mountain lion, and P-22’s radio collar positioned him close to the intersection the place the crash was reported, wildlife officers stated earlier this week.
Warning indicators
State wildlife officers determined earlier this month to seize P-22 after a collection of regarding points.
He started to exhibit rising “indicators of misery,” together with three assaults on canine in a month and several other near-miss encounters with folks strolling in Los Feliz and Silver Lake. The mountain lion killed a Chihuahua on its leash in November close to the Hollywood Reservoir.
“It was a troublesome determination — it was the proper determination,” stated Beth Pratt, the California regional govt director for the Nationwide Wildlife Federation. “This animal didn’t should endure.”
Outdated age
P-22 was regarded as about 12 years previous, geriatric by wild mountain lion requirements. Some consultants stated that previous age might have been a consider his deteriorating situation.
Veterinarian Winston Vickers from the UC Davis Wildlife Well being Heart stated final week that he has noticed adjustments in mountain lions’ conduct as they age and develop aging-related points, together with tooth issues and difficulties in tackling their regular prey.
“I don’t know if you happen to’ve ever seen any video of a mountain lion attacking a deer, however it’s a rigorous expertise for everybody, together with the mountain lion,” Vickers stated. “They’ve all of the aches and pains and arthritis and issues that we’ve got.”
What is going to occur to P-22 now?
A pathologist from the San Diego Zoo and a mountain lion illness specialist physician from the California Division of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a autopsy examination, stated senior wildlife veterinarian Deana Clifford. After his loss of life, P-22 will contribute to a number of analysis research on genetics, replica and well being in mountain lions, she stated.
Then P-22’s physique will probably be despatched to the Pure Historical past Museum in Los Angeles County, the place he will probably be examined by Miguel Ordeñana, the scientist who first found P-22 in Griffith Park in 2012.
“I feel that’s a very becoming closure for a life well-lived,” Clifford stated.
