Corie Mattie, a Los Angeles artist, had just finished a glass of wine when she heard something at her door.
She initially assumed her brother’s Labrador lab had escaped, so she allowed him in.
Ms. Mattie described the animal as a [expletive] mountain lion.
And not just any mountain lion, but the most renowned mountain lion in Hollywood, if not the world.
P-22 is his name, and the meeting in March left an imprint, according to Ms. Mattie.
His emerald eyes were fixed on her. She returned to her gaze. P-22 waited until daybreak when he stealthily departed over a lattice fence, and she recorded a little video before concealing inside.
“He had an impact on me. He could destroy me, but he did not “She stated. “It rapidly progressed to my spirit animal. In an instant, it went from zero to one hundred.”
Although Ms. Mattie was not the only Angeleno P-22 had charmed, locals can no longer anticipate having miraculous encounters with the mysterious creature.
P-22’s supporters’ hearts were broken on Saturday when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife revealed that the iconic feline had been mercifully put to death owing to his advanced age and severe health concerns. The move was deemed “the most difficult yet humanitarian alternative” by officials.
He’d had the city under his control since 2012 when he crossed two dangerous motorways and settled in Griffith Park, a 4,200-acre mountain in the center of one of the world’s most enormous concrete jungles.
New Star Born:
Griffith Park is little compared to a mountain lion’s average habitat of 150 square miles. P-22, like many city inhabitants, was ready to give up a room for a superior position.
Miguel Ordeana, a researcher who had placed video traps in the park, spotted him in February 2012 while reviewing nocturnal footage.
“Suddenly, this enormous puma butt appears on my computer screen!” Mr. Ordeana remembered.
At first, he couldn’t believe it, but a later shot revealed that the park had a new tenant.
California’s roads have cut off the species’ habitats. Though there are up to 6,000 mountain lions in California, experts estimate the population in the Santa Monica Mountains, where P-22 was most likely born, might be extinct in 50 years due to inbreeding, which has weakened the animals’ genetic pool.
