P-22, the mountain lion often described as Griffith Park’s most famous resident, is healthy and doing well, wildlife officials said Thursday.
Biologists recently captured the big cat to replace the battery in his GPS tracking collar and gave him a general health exam, according to a post by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
P-22 weighed about 118 pounds and is estimated to be between 9 and 10 years old, wildlife officials said.
The mountain lion was first found seven years ago in Griffith Park and experts thought he wouldn’t stay in the area long.
“He spends the majority of his time in the most remote sections of the park, appears to be getting enough deer to eat, and is rarely sighted,” Santa Monica Mountains officials said.
P-22’s territory is about eight square miles big, which is the smallest recorded home range of any adult male mountain lion ever studied, wildlife officials said.
“It is sorely too small,” the National Park Service said. “As an isolated patch of habitat, it’s hard to imagine a female lion joining him any time soon.”
