The search is on for Los Angeles’ most well-known wild cat.
Wildlife officers have mentioned they plan to seize the mountain lion P-22 after issues arose over doable “indicators of misery” together with killing a leashed Chihuahua final month and attacking one other Chihuahua final week.
Though the prospect of discovering and capturing an animal carrying a monitoring collar could appear easy, a wildlife skilled conversant in earlier efforts to trace and entice mountain lions advised The Occasions on Friday that such operations are unpredictably advanced.
“It’s as much as the cat,” mentioned Beth Pratt, the Nationwide Wildlife Federation’s regional government director for California and chief of the nonprofit’s #SaveLACougars marketing campaign. “It could possibly be a few days or it could possibly be in a month. It simply depends upon how rapidly the cat cooperates.”
Elsewhere within the nation, a standard approach to seize cougars is to make use of hounds to drive the cat right into a tree or to nook it, she mentioned.
However in Los Angeles, officers will keep away from that tactic due to the likelihood that the mountain lion will run right into a residential space, down a serious avenue or onto a freeway, Pratt mentioned.
“We don’t need the O.J. [Simpson freeway] chase taking place with P-22,” she mentioned.
Regionally, wildlife consultants use a baited cage to entice mountain lions, however it may be weeks earlier than the cat takes the bait.
And easily discovering the place a mountain lion could be is a serious problem, Pratt mentioned.
P-22 wears a monitoring collar, however the machine runs on batteries, and setting it as much as present real-time monitoring would rapidly drain its energy provide.
The GPS collars for mountain lions within the Nationwide Park Service’s Los Angeles-area examine, together with P-22, ship out one location ping throughout the day and hourly pings at evening, in accordance with Pratt.
“It’s a must to be in the fitting place on the proper time, and mountain lions can journey as much as 25 miles in a day,” she mentioned.
If searchers get shut sufficient, they might be capable to choose up the radio sign additionally transmitted by P-22’s collar, which might put them inside 50 toes of the feline.
However mountain lions, nicknamed “ghost cats,” might be regarded as introverts who don’t wish to be discovered, Pratt mentioned.
“They hunt by hiding,” she mentioned. “They’re extraordinarily good at hiding. Most individuals by no means see a mountain lion [in person].”
The longtime environmental advocate mentioned Los Angeles residents needs to be acknowledged for coexisting with P-22 and for typically acknowledging that his current habits is a part of his nature as a predator.
Residents shouldn’t attempt to intervene in any approach or attempt to seize P-22 themselves, but when they see the mountain lion or catch him on safety digital camera video, they need to ship tricks to the Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Space, Pratt mentioned.
Pet homeowners needs to be cautious and hold an in depth eye on their animals, she mentioned.
Mountain lions are most energetic at evening and bringing canines and cats inside by nightfall is an effective precaution.
Updates on the search effort weren’t accessible Saturday from state wildlife officers or the Santa Monica Mountains Nationwide Recreation Space.
