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Stunning photos of L.A.’s celebrity mountain lion P-22

A remote camera captures P-22 passing the Hollywood sign at night in Griffith Park.
A remote camera captures P-22 passing the Hollywood sign in Griffith Park.
(Steve Winter/National Geographic)
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The mountain lion P-22, who lived in the heart of Los Angeles for more than a decade and became the face of an international campaign to save California’s threatened puma population, was “compassionately euthanized” Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s director, because of the serious injuries he suffered earlier this week.

A remote camera captures P-22 at night in Griffith Park.
A remote camera captures P-22 in Griffith Park.
(Steve Winter/National Geographic )
P-22 walks out of a tunnel or storm drain at night in Griffith Park.
P-22 at 1:09 a.m. on Dec.19, 2016, in Griffith Park.
(
Miguel Ordeñana
)
A close-up of a bedraggled, ill-looking P-22 at left, and a close-up of a healthy looking P-22 at right.
P-22 looking ill, left. When recaptured in mid-December 2015, P-22 appeared to be healthy at right and had recovered from a serious bout with mange. The image on the right was taken before he was sedated.
(National Park Service)
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P-22 perched on a gate and guard rail and overlooking a property at night with the cityscape in background.
P-22, the mountain lion living in Griffith Park, visited a home in nearby Beachwood Canyon on Jan. 4.
(Leilani Fideler)
A mountain lion sitting outside of a home
Cylin Busby and Damon Ross spotted P-22 outside their Los Feliz home.
(Damon Ross)
A mountain lion crosses a street at night near parked cars.
A mountain lion seen in Silver Lake. It may have been the big cat known as P-22.
(Ignacio Genzon)
P-22 feeding on the carcass of a mule deer in Griffith Park at night.
P-22 appears healthy, strong and feeding on the carcass of a mule deer in Griffith Park in December 2014.
(National Park Service)
A woman carrying a cardboard cutout of P-22 while walking outdoors.
Shellie Collier, lead volunteer for the National Wildlife Federation, makes her way with a cardboard cutout of P-22 while walking near the location of the future Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills in April.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
A man wears a face mask that looks like a big cat's nose and mouth while other people stand nearby outdoors.
Francis Appiah, left, an environmental biologist with the California Department of Transportation, wears a face mask in the likeness of a mountain lion known as P-22 while attending the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing groundbreaking ceremony in Agoura Hills. Spanning over 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway when complete, the crossing will be the largest in the world, the first of its kind in California and a global model for urban wildlife conservation.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
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P-22 steps across and between rocks in Griffith Park during the day.
Photo of P-22 taken with a remote camera in Griffith Park.
(Miguel Ordeñana/Natural History Museum)
P-22 steps across rocks at night in Griffith Park.
P-22 in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park in the wee hours of March 22, 2021.
(Miguel Ordeñana / Natural History Museum )
P-22 walks through a break in a chain link fence at night.
Photo of P-22 taken with a remote camera in Griffith Park.
(Miguel Ordeñana /Natural History Museum)
P-22 walking through Griffith Park.
June 2019 photo of P-22 taken with a remote camera in Griffith Park.
(Miguel Ordeñana / Natural History Museum)
Two people carry captured mountain lion P-22 in a bag across grass.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff captured mountain lion P-22 in the backyard of a home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles on Dec. 12.
(Sarah Picchi)
People in uniform stand over or near a prone P-22 on a sheet in the backyard of a home.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff look at captured mountain lion P-22 in the backyard of a home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles on Dec. 12.
(Sarah Picchi)
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P-22 appears wary of the trail camera while walking outdoors at night.
In this May 2020 photo, P-22 appears wary of the trail camera.
(Miguel Ordeñana / Natural History Museum)
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