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Learn more about celebrity cougar P-22 from experts. This Q&A session took place on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.
Los Angeles is well known for its celebrities, but only one sparked the construction of the world’s biggest wildlife crossing! When the cougar P-22 made his home in the midst of Hollywood, he captured hearts and gained national fame, sparking a campaign to support crossings and corridors everywhere.
We're LIVE in LA, speaking with Beth Pratt, California Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation, National Geographic photographer Steve Winter, and National Park Service biologist Jeff Sikich. They have all worked behind the scenes to bring P-22 and The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing to the front lines of conservation and advocacy groups nationwide.
To learn more about this incredible story, watch “Cougar Crossing” from WILD HOPE on our YouTube channel.
Los Angeles is well known for its celebrities, so when the fearless cougar P-22 gained fame for making its home in the midst of the city, he inspired an effort to build the world’s largest wildlife crossing and helped spark a national campaign to support crossings and corridors everywhere. When he came of age, P-22, like other young male mountain lions, set off to find territory and potential mates. Against all odds, he successfully traversed multiple freeways to find a new home in Griffith Park. However, this small scrap of land, like the Santa Monica Mountains he came from, remained isolated from larger mountain ranges to the east. After years of research and outreach by local biologists and advocates like Beth Pratt, this team of conservationists pinpointed the vital location for a wildlife crossing to be built to restitch an entire ecosystem. Now a decade later, P-22’s story continues to inspire the very construction of this landmark crossing and expands what’s possible for urban wildlife coexistence.
