Angelenos can’t help but see themselves in P-22. He’s carved out a life in a crowded city. And though he’s still handsome for his advanced age, he’s terminally single.P-22’s discovery in the park in 2012 led to one of the most unusual elements of his life: the city taking his side, instead of demanding that he be removed. Big cats prowl large swaths of the United States, but few cities would allow a cougar to live in their midst, let alone stay for a decade.
P-22 went on to achieve the kind of lasting fame of which most Angelenos can only dream. His photogenic face, including dark markings around the eyes that resembled eyeliner, appeared in a documentary and an exhibit at Los Angeles County’s Natural History Museum. The big cat was featured on socks, tattoos and bumper stickers. And by order of the City Council, every Oct. 22 was celebrated as “P-22 Day.
The 101 Freeway forms an almost impenetrable barrier for the threatened puma population in the Santa Monica Mountains, cutting them off from a wider gene pool to the north.
About two years after arriving in the park, P-22 appeared on trail-camera footage looking gaunt, his tail as thin as a pipe cleaner. The NPS trapped and treated him with topical medications and vitamin K injections, then released him.