05/28/2026
Some tragic mountain lion news—and some hope.
Sadly, two mountain lions were killed recently on roadways within two days of one another in the long-term National Park Service study area. As reported by the biologists, a young female kitten, thought to be just under a year-old, was struck by a vehicle on Mullholland Drive, east of the 405 Freeway. We don’t know much about her, but once the biologists receive genetic testing results back, we can potentially learn who her relatives are and where she journeyed from. Although she came to a tragic end, this young cat left her mark as she was one of only few lions that the National Park Service in the last two decades have documented east of the 405 in the Hollywood Hills.
Two days before this female’s death, a male kitten, aged approximately six months, died from a vehicle strike on Las Virgenes Road between Mulholland and Lost Hills Road. These deaths, and the 56 other cats who the biologists have documented that have died from vehicle strikes in the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills, and Santa Susana Mountains since the NPS study began, underscore the urgent need for wildlife crossings and improving connectivity.
And with the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing approaching its opening date on December 2, animals will soon have safe passage over the region’s biggest barrier to connectivity. Some of the first mountain lions to use the crossing might be kittens P-135, P-136 and P-137, who National Park Service scientists recently tagged at a den site in the Santa Susanna Mountains in mid-May. They are the third known litter to the long-time female in the area, P-48.
It’s exciting to contemplate that these kittens, two females and a male, might be pioneers-- the first cougars to use the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing to safely travel from the north into the Santa Monica Mountains.
Photos: National Park Service
