The Mountain Lion of the Verdugo Mountains

Mountain lions commonly come down from the San Gabriel Mountains to feast on the deer that eat our roses and to pick off the occasional unlucky dog. But allow me to introduce P-41, our very own mountain lion of the Verdugo Mountains. P-41 is special. He’s part of a small group of big cats that have chosen to live on isolated islands of wildland surrounded by a dense LA urban environment.

Mountain lions have always been part of the natural landscape of the Crescenta Valley, although the lion population ebbed significantly when the Americans took possession. The new settlers hunted deer for food and sport. As the deer became scarce, the mountain lions, which relied on them as a primary food source, retreated. Trapping lions for pelts and bounty further reduced their numbers. But in the later part of the last century as the deer population rebounded, so too did the mountain lion population. So much so that, in 2002, the National Park Service set out to monitor, track and study our so-called “urban lions” that live in islands of wildland northwest of LA: the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna Mountains, the Hollywood Hills and our own Verdugos.

As the lions are positively identified, they are given less-than-epic alpha-numeric names, “P” for “puma” and the sequential number in which they were identified. The P-numbers are well into the high 50s, but only about 14 are currently resident in those areas. The rest have died or moved. Although the major cause of death is lion-on-lion violence (fights for territory), cars and poisons take their toll. About 90% of a lion’s diet is deer (about one a week!) and they fill in with coyotes, raccoons and occasional pets.

Two LA lions have become unwilling celebrities lately: P-45 in Malibu because of his unfortunate bloodthirst for domestic livestock, and P-22 that has taken up residence in Griffith Park. He has been immortalized by National Geographic photographers, posing dramatically in front of the Hollywood sign. P-22 is a Hollywood star.

But our P-41 has a more sedate story. The big male was first picked up by wildlife cameras in 2010. Two amateur enthusiasts had planted hidden cameras on trails in the Verdugos, set to go off by motion detector. Although looking to photograph bobcats and coyotes, they instead captured several stills and video of a big lion. They shared their find with the National Park Service. After several sightings by residents living against the Verdugos, the Park Service was finally able to capture and tranquilize the lion in 2015. They took his stats and fitted him with a radio collar so that his movements could be tracked.

P-41 is a big, healthy male cat, 130 pounds at his weigh-in in 2015, with a lush coat of tawny fur and big soulful eyes. He was estimated to be 8 years old at that time. He’s been much photographed, lots of security cam shots, and photos taken by residents as P-41 transits backyards. He seems to be moving freely between the Verdugos and the San Gabriels, crossing the 210 Freeway and (gulp!) Foothill Boulevard. That extends his territory from the isolated Verdugos into the genetically diverse San Gabriels, which is a very good thing.

Because that is the problem for these urban lions like our P-41. Due to their isolated territory surrounded by city, inbreeding becomes a problem. That could lead to a collapse in the urban lion population. A possible solution is the creation of “land bridges” over freeways allowing the lions to migrate to other genetic pools. See http://www.nwf.org/Save-LA-Cougars.aspx for details.

But there’s good genetic news for P-41. It appears he has a girlfriend. Verdugo Mountain trail cams recently caught photos of a new female “cheek-rubbing,” leaving her scent on a log, perhaps an invitation to mate. One of my daughters on a late-night drive through Glendale caught her in headlights as she crossed Mountain Avenue near Louise. She’s active in P-41’s territory. Indications are that we may soon hear the pitter-patter of tiny paws on the trails of the Verdugos.

We really do live in an interesting place!