The National Park Service and the department of Fish and Game are looking for information about a recent suspicious mountain lion death, according to a press release from NPS. The mountain lion, the last remaining male mountain lion in a significant wildlife study, was discovered Sept. 11 and did not die of natural causes, officials said.
The lion’s GPS collar stopped transmitting on Aug. 25, and officials received reports of a dead mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains shortly after. The unnatural death of the lion, known as P-15 in the study, prompted the departments to launch an investigation.
“This is a significant blow to the mountain lion research study,” NPS wildlife ecologist Seth Riley said. “There are not a lot of mountain lions left in the Santa Monica Mountains, and each one plays an important role in the overall local survival of the mountain lion population.”
Tests by the UCLA Conservation Genetics Research Center confirmed the mountain lion was P-15. The seven-year-old lion was captured in November 2009 in Point Mugu State Park, making it about two years that the NPS has followed his movements. He was the only remaining male in the Santa Monica Mountains with a GPS collar.
This is the second mountain lion killed recently. Another, known as P-18, was killed while attempting to cross the I-405 in late August.
In California, mountain lions are a specially protected species, meaning it is illegal to hunt or trap them.
The NPS and California Department of Fish and Game encourage anyone with information about the death of mountain lion P-15 to call the DFG Cal Tip Hotline at 800.334.2258.
Passages told to remove landscape sign
Passages Malibu rehab clinic recently created a sign of its logo using plants and landscaping on its property. Prompting complaints from local residents that the landscaped sign was too large, the rehab center has been told to remove the plants.
“Signs that are used for commercial advertising that people use any type of vegetation, rocks or other materials are a prohibited sign, and we have already contacted passages and let them know they have to remove it,” the City of Malibu’s planning director Joyce Parker-Bozylinski said. “It was clearly meant to represent their logo and we advised them it was a prohibited sign and they had to remove it.”