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Photos: There's A Teen Mountain Lion Out On Her Own For The First Time
P-42 on fleek (via Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area/Facebook)
A newly-identified female mountain lion might just steal the celebrity spotlight from L.A.'s other famous feline, P-22 in Griffith Park.
A young female mountain lion named P-42 has recently been identified by biologists in Malibu Creek State Park. The animal was captured, outfitted with a GPS collar for tracking and released back into the park, but not before she gave the camera a few sultry looks. The stunning cougar weighs about 66 pounds and is estimated to be about 18 months old.
The young mountain lion is believed to have recently separated from her mother, so researchers are particularly interested in seeing what she does on her own during her "teenage" years out in the wild—a time we all know can be a crazy time. According to Kate Kuykendall, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service, "Eventually DNA results will help us learn more about who she is and how she is connected to the other animals in the mountains."
The stoic P-42 (via Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area/Facebook)
Although P-42 hasn't yet captured as many headlines as her crosstown counterpart P-22, the mountain lion of Griffith Park, we're likely to hear more about her soon. Kuykendall tells LAist that biologists will be keeping a close watch on P-42 and hope to set up a remote camera soon to "confirm that she's dispersed from mom and is traveling solo."
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