News Release

Mountain lion P-90 killed by vehicle strike

Mountain lion P-90

NPS / Jeff Sikich

News Release Date: August 26, 2022

Contact: Ana Beatriz Cholo

Early this morning, subadult male mountain lion P-90 was struck and killed by a vehicle on State Highway 33 in Oak View, just south of Ojai in Ventura County. After they were notified, he was picked up by biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). 

Born in the central Santa Monica Mountains, he was one of 13 kittens born during the "Summer of Kittens" in 2020, which included five mountain lion mothers giving birth in our study area.

P-90 was first captured and marked at the den on July 6, 2020, when he was about three weeks of age. P-90's father is suspected to be P-63.

His sibling, male P-89, was killed by a vehicle on the 101 Freeway on July 18, 2022.

P-90 had successfully crossed the 101 Freeway in Camarillo this past June. He crossed flat agricultural fields and eventually traveled to the Lake Casitas area in Los Padres National Forest.

This was actually his third time successfully crossing the 101 Freeway.

Soon after dispersing from his mother, P-65, he crossed the 101 at Liberty Canyon, heading north into the Simi Hills on Dec. 11, 2021. The next night he crossed the 101 again, heading back into the Santa Monica Mountains.
P-90 was just over 2 years old. He is the 7th lion in our study area to die from road mortality this year alone and the 5th radio-collared one.

During the 20-year study, 32 mountain lions were killed by a vehicle in our study area, which includes the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills, Santa Susana Mountains, Verdugo Mountains, and Griffith Park. Biologists are currently tracking 11 mountain lions in the region with GPS radio collars.

Samples were collected from P-90 after he was killed Friday morning. A necropsy will be conducted.

NPS has been studying mountain lions in and around the Santa Monica Mountains for the last two decades to determine how they survive in a fragmented and urbanized environment. CDFW is responsible for overseeing the management and conservation of mountain lions in the state.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park Service, it comprises a seamless network of local, state and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo.