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Griffith Park's resident mountain lion that was found sickened in March, possibly by rat poison, looks like he's doing much better now.
A National Geographic photographer had snapped stunning photos of the mountain lion named P-22 last year walking in front of the Hollywood Sign and looking healthy. However, National Park Service (NPS) researchers discovered in late March that the cougar was suffering from mange (a parasitic disease of the hair and skin) and had traces of rat poison in his system.
Researchers treated him and released him back in Griffith Park. And now, P-22 is starting to look closer to his once-majestic self.
"His face has improved," Miguel Ordeñana, a wildlife biologist with the Griffith Park Connectivity Study, told KPCC. "His fur is filled in; the crustiness over his eyes has gone. The lesions on his face, neck area and ears from scratching so much due to the dehydration of his skin has kind of improved."
Although Kate Kuykendall of the National Park Service told NBC Los Angeles that the mountain lion is "showing some really healthy signs," she can't say for sure what the future will hold for him. "There’s nothing to say he can’t get mange or that he can’t be exposed to rat poisons again because nothing in his environment has changed," she said.
Here is a video KPCC posted from the Griffith Park Connectivity Study of the cougar just right after he was treated for mange, where his fur looks matted:
And this is how P-22 looked in late May, with his fur looking healthier:
