Big cat fever returns to Los Angeles as mountain lion is possibly spotted in Hollywood Hills

An unconfirmed sighting of a mountain lion in a famous Los Angeles park has fueled a new outbreak of big cat fever among Angelenos.

Reports from last week suggest that a lion was seen roaming around a parking lot at the west end of Griffith Park, the same spot that a beloved cougar named P-22 has prowled for a decade, with the Hollywood sign in the background.

The video taken by Vladimir Polumiskov appears to show the newly spotted animal minding its own business. Polumiskov says he returned a second time and found the suspicious man still there. “He’s a beautiful, beautiful animal,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

The apparent sighting, which has not yet been verified by the National Park Service, sparked fond memories. P-22, first sighted in 2012, has become a celebrity in California and a symbol of efforts to protect the local big cat community from the risks posed by urban life.

In December 2022, local authorities confirmed that they had euthanized P-22 after he was struck by a vehicle – a common problem on the city’s highways and traffic. His death caused an outpouring of gratitude: thousands of people attended last year’s P-22 memorial, which included musical performances and dances in his honor. Some participants got tattoos to show their affection for the animal.

The prospect of new local megafauna has thrilled conservationists in the area, where a park services project to better understand and protect mountain lions has been running since 2002.

Estimates suggest that up to 15 lions roam the Santa Monica Mountains at any given time – but the newcomer may be the only one who has abandoned his natural habit and found a home in Griffith Park. Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation, explained that residing in the park is “a very urban existence.”

“Watch ‘La La Land,’ watch any L.A. movie,” Pratt, who was perhaps P-22’s biggest cheerleader, told HuffPost. “Griffith Park is right in the middle of everything. This is not a cat that lives outside of Los Angeles. The Hollywood sign is there… Brad Pitt lives right on the border. When P-22 was alive, he would walk into Universal Studios, walk down Sunset Boulevard.”

The name P-22 needs explanation. “P” stands for “cougar” and the number indicates how many big cats were collared and monitored by the National Park Service. The latest animal sighting, if confirmed, would be listed as P-122. The echo of the cat’s previous designation did not go unnoticed by wildlife advocates.

Pratt hopes the P-122 will have the same impact as its predecessor, which represented something more than an animal “living in style in the Hollywood hills.”

“It really changed people’s preconceptions about what it means to live with wildlife, where wildlife can be. And this has been a lasting movement,” she said. “So when this cat showed up, I think it was further proof of the wonder of the wildlife that still lives among us in Los Angeles, and people want that.”

Pratt – who successfully campaigned for wildlife crossings to be built on highways – urged amateur wildlife watchers to tread carefully around the big cats. But she is convinced that humans and mountain lions can live side by side.

“What P-22 taught us was that these animals are not sitting in the forest ready to jump out at us,” she said. “For 10 years he was a neighbor. The neighbor you didn’t see much of, but it was nice when you did and you waved ‘hi’. And he went his way and you went your way. I think he taught us that coexistence is possible.”

The National Park Service is taking the possible sighting seriously and continues to review Polumiskov’s video, spokeswoman Ana Beatriz Cholo confirmed to HuffPost. But it can take months to tag the charismatic cat. Either way, she said, it’s “exciting.”

“It’s unusual,” Cholo said. “P-22 has been at Griffin Park for a number of years and I suppose we didn’t expect to see another one so soon.”

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