Tragedy has once again visited a pack of mountain lions struggling to survive in the Santa Mountain Mountains.
Wildlife officials said Friday that a female mountain lion kitten known as P-51 was struck and killed by a car while crossing the 118 Freeway — the same freeway that claimed the lives of her mother and sibling late last year.
The carcass of the 8-month-old kitten was retrieved in Simi Valley by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Jan. 14. It was found just one mile east of Rocky Peak near Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, according to wildlife officials.
“Unfortunately this case illustrates the challenges for mountain lions in the region, where roads are both major barriers to movement and potential sources of mortality,” wildlife ecologist Seth Riley said in a statement. “The area where these animals were killed is part of a critical wildlife corridor that connects the genetically isolated population in the Santa Monica Mountains to what is considered the nearest source population, in Los Padres National Forest.”
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