Mountain Lion P-22 Came From Santa Monica Mountains, Park Officials Believe

AGOURA HILLS (CBSLA.com) — A well-known mountain lion that was trapped beneath a Los Feliz home is believed to be the only large carnivore worldwide living in a mega-city, according to national park officials.

Dubbed Los Angeles' loneliest bachelor and Griffith Park resident, the cougar even has his own Facebook page.

Supporters on the page are calling for wildlife crossings in Liberty Canyon to allow lions to cross over from the Santa Monica Mountains to Simi Hills.

"For future lions, hopefully the idea is they won't end up in such a dead end location as Griffith Park," said Kate Kuykendall of the National Park Service.

The lion known as P-22 has appeared in a National Geographic photo and survived eating rat poison last year.

The mountain lion was back in the spotlight Tuesday when he got stuck in the crawl space of a home but slipped out overnight.

National park officials believe P-22 came from the Santa Monica Mountains and somehow navigated the busy freeways.

"He had to have crossed the 101 and 405 freeways to get to Griffith Park, which is pretty remarkable journey," Kuykendall said.

Biologists track P-22's movements daily as his location is sent back via a GPS collar.

Officials were aware that P-22 had left the park Monday but not that he was underneath a home. At last check, P-22 was 1.5 miles into Griffith Park, but biologists are tracking between eight to nine lions all over.

"I believe it's about every two hours that we get a point," said Kuykendall, who explained that P-22 won't ever leave Griffith Park and won't be relocated because that would mean fighting for territory with other male lions.

Meanwhile, officials say P-22 seems to be doing just fine in the urban sprawl.