P-32 Struck and Killed on the 5

We are sad to report the death of P-32, the mountain lion that crossed the 101 Freeway earlier this year. He was struck and killed by a motorist as he attempted to cross Interstate 5 near Castaic Lake in the early morning hours of Monday, August 10. P-32 and his sister P-33 made headlines in April when both cats made separate crossings of the 101. Big cats in the Santa Monica Mountains are hemmed in by highways and it makes it difficult for the animals to breed within a healthy gene pool. Because he was a juvenile, it is believed that P-32 was pushing further north to find a mate away from larger, more aggressive males. He had managed to cross not only the 101, but the 23, the 118 and the 126 highways before meeting his fate on the 5 in the Los Padres Mountains. The only other male puma to make it successfully out of the Santa Monica Mountains is P-22 who currently resides in Griffith Park after traversing both the 405 and 101 highways. P-22, however, is not considered a successful transfer by a Santa Monica puma as he is also hemmed in by highways with no female to mate with. For more information on this story, check out this article from KPCC's Sanden Totten.

P-32: Mountain lion who crossed the 101 killed crossing I-5