A young male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed Sunday, March 8, while trying to cross the 101 Freeway in Camarillo, according to the National Park Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

He is the eighth cougar to be found dead in the general area of the Santa Monica Mountains in the past two years.

The animal was struck in the predawn hours Sunday in the northbound lanes, according to National Park Service spokeswoman Ana Cholo. The cougar did not have a tracking collar and it’s not known which side of the freeway he was crossing from.

In an effort to prevent such fatalities and to increase the limited gene pool in the Santa Monica Mountains, a coalition known as #SAVELACOUGARS has raised $14 million to build a $60 million wildlife bridge over the 101 Freeway.

“This cougar’s death is another grim reminder that California’s lack of wildlife crossings endangers both human drivers and imperiled animals,” said J.P. Rose, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Automobiles kill at least 100 mountain lions per year in California. State wildlife officials are moving to give mountain lions more protections, and building wildlife crossings and preserving natural corridors from development has to be a priority at every level of government.”

Motor vehicles and local extinction from inbreeding are hardly the only life-threatening hazards the big cats face.

A male known as P-56 was shot and killed Jan. 26 by a property owner, who received a permit to shoot the animal after it had killed 12 domestic lambs and goats over a two-year period.

The remains of P-30, a male, were found Sept. 9. The cause of death was determined to be rodent poisoning.

P-61, a male, had crossed the 405 Freeway from west and then was hit by a car Sept. 7 while attempting to recross the freeway after being chased by another male lion on the east side of the road.

The remains of P-53, a female, were found Aug. 15. The corpse was too decomposed to determine a cause of death but rodent poisoning was found in her system.

The remains of P-47, a male, were found March 21, with rodent poison suspected as the cause of death.

P-47, a male, is thought to be a victim of the Woolsey fire in November 2018.

The remains of P-55, thought to be a brother of P-56, were found in July 2018. His body was too decomposed to determine a cause of death but biologists speculated that he may have eaten rat poison or been in a fight with another male.

There currently are six known adult females and one adult male in the Santa Monica Mountains, all of which have radio collars and are tracked by the National Forest Service.