Puma Profiles: P-97

Male
Initial capture date: Aug. 26, 2021
Deceased

Male P-97 was first discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains in the winter of 2020 from trail cameras. At the time, he was about 3 months old, and he was with his mother, P-54, and his brother, P-98.

Interestingly, this was P-54's second litter of 2020. She had given birth to three kittens (P-82, P-83, and P-84) in May 2020 and was known to have kicked off the "summer of kittens," which included five mountain lion mothers giving birth between May and September of 2020. Researchers believe that P-54's litter from May did not survive and that she gave birth again in late October 2020.

P-97 was struck and killed on the southbound 405 Freeway near the Getty Center on April 21, 2022. Read the press release here. He was 18 months old and he had recently dispersed from his mother, P-54. He was presumably setting off in search of finding a territory to call his own.

P-97 is the fourth mountain lion to have been killed in this general area of the 10-lane 405 Freeway.

On Aug. 26, 2021, P-97 was captured by officials from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after his brother, P-98, attacked a small child in an unincorporated area of Calabasas. P-97 was 10 months old at the time and was with his mother. P-97 was tranquilized with a non-lethal dart rifle and DNA taken from the young cat showed that he was not connected to the attack. P-54 was not captured, and she eventually moved from the area.

On the following day, P-97, in coordination with CDFW, was radio-collared by NPS biologists and released around where his mother, P-54 was known to be traveling. Mother and son later reunited.

P-96 | Back to Puma Profiles Homepage | P-98