P-64 ( – November 28, 2018) was a wild

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

who resided in the northern

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...

Simi Hills The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, of Southern California, United States. The range runs ma ...

, and

Santa Susana Mountains The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando and Simi valleys on its south from the Santa ...

near

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. P-64 was first captured in February 2018, was monitored by a GPS collar, and was the subject of media attention due to his ability to use a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

to cross

U.S. 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

, for which he was given the nickname Culvert Cat, and for his death after the

Woolsey Fire The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that started in Los Angeles County and spread north to neighboring Ventura County, both located in the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018, and was not fully contained until November 2 ...

Life

Discovery and tracking

P-64 was first captured at the

Santa Susana Field Laboratory The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), formerly known as Rocketdyne, is a complex of industrial research and development facilities located on a portion of Southern California in an unincorporated area of Ventura County in the Simi Hills betw ...

in the

in February 2018, at which point he was fitted with a GPS collar. At the time, he was estimated to be three or four years old. For the next nine months, P-64 was tracked throughout the northern

, and

, from south of

to north of S.R. 118. He crossed these freeways a combined 41 times and was only the fifth mountain lion documented to cross U.S. 101 and the second to cross from north to south. P-64 used a

near Liberty Canyon to cross U.S. 101, giving him the nickname "Culvert Cat".

Death

Mountain lions usually escape fires as long as they do not get caught between two of them. A secondary risk, however, is returning to the burn area too early, which can cause feet burns that prevent successful hunting, causing

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, de ...

. P-64 was one of eleven or thirteen mountain lions tracked near the

when it broke out on November 8, 2018. P-64 traveled for several miles through the burn area, at one point having the opportunity to escape but electing not to, a decision researchers believe was due to his desire to avoid firefighting efforts and

urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

. He eventually settled in a remote area. P-64 was tracked in an unburned section on November 26, giving researchers hope for his survival, but his tracker stopped transmitting on November 28 and biologists discovered his dead body near this location five days later. He had burnt paws and appeared to have been dead for several days at the time of his discovery. His death was announced less than two weeks after P-74's, the only other tracked mountain lion to die in the fire. P-64's death was reported as far as

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

lists his cause of death as unknown, while other sources have starvation as the cause. Post-mortem testing revealed six anticoagulant compounds commonly used in

rat poison Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, groundhog, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Some rod ...

in his liver.

Family

P-64 is the suspected father of four kittens born in May 2018, although this has yet to be confirmed. These kittens were untracked as of December 2018 and so it is not known whether they survived the

Culvert Cat

P-64 was given the name Culvert Cat for his use of a

to cross under

, an ability that was captured by trail cameras and has been described as "pioneering" and "exceptional." How he learned this is unknown, as unlike other animals, mountain lions almost always avoid artificial structures. The culvert itself, 640 feet long and pitch black inside due to a bend in the middle, is located near the

Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is an under construction vegetated overpass in Agoura Hills, California, at Liberty Canyon. Originally called the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing, the bridge will be the largest wildlife crossing in the w ...

, of which construction had not begun when P-64 traversed the area. Through use of the culvert and other successful crossings, P-64 was the only mountain lion in the area that could repeatedly cross highways.

Significance

Mountain lions in the

face a lack of genetic diversity due to isolation caused by

. Between 2002 and 2018, P-64 was one of only five mountain lion known to cross U.S. 101 and only the second to enter the Santa Monica Mountains, while eighteen died trying to cross the freeway. In doing so, P-64 brought added opportunity for females in the Santa Monica Mountains to mate without

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...

. The

, meant to de-isolate the Santa Monica Mountains by connecting it over

to the

, is currently being built near where P-64 crossed U.S. 101. When completed, it will be the largest

wildlife crossing Wildlife crossings are structures that allow animals to cross human-made barriers safely. Wildlife crossings may include underpass tunnels or wildlife tunnels, viaducts, and overpasses or green bridges (mainly for large or herd-type animals ...

in the world.

References

{{Reflist 21st-century animal births 2018 animal deaths Environment of Greater Los Angeles Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands Individual felines Individual wild animals Cougar Individual animals in the United States