Making Tracks Show 340

Well, I've been out walking I don't do that much talking these days Hello, you're listening to KUBU-FM, Low Power and the Voice of Sacramento. You can find KUBU locally at 96.5 on your FM dial. You can also listen in on the internet at accesssacramento.org. This program is Making Tracks, and I'm your host, Dale Steele. We're on weekly at this day and time. You can also find more information about what is covered on the show at daletracks.blogspot.com and you can contact me there if you have questions or suggestions about the show. Making Tracks is back. Happy 2023, everyone. It certainly got off to a stormy start. Let's make it a better year for wildlife and ourselves by getting out to appreciate and conserve nature. I want to start the new year by sharing a story from Southern California that has much broader implications for wildlife and humans. Normally, I would say that wildlife at the population level is most important and it isn't a good idea to focus on individual animals, let alone name them. This is a special case. P-22 was an adult male mountain lion dubbed the Hollywood Mountain Lion because it was discovered to survive and even thrive in a small area around Griffin Park and the millions of people, vehicles, and barriers that exist there. A true celebrity, often seen briefly, the life of P-22 came to a sad end last month when he was humanely euthanized due to injuries that were discovered when he was captured after an incident. The outpouring of sadness and grief that resulted is ongoing and a celebration of P-22's life is planned soon. Meanwhile, P-22 leaves a legacy including awareness of the challenges and dangers development causes wildlife. A critical wildlife crossing is finally being built to provide safe passage over Highway 101, one of the busiest freeways in Southern California. I first reviewed this Liberty Canyon location as a potential wildlife crossing while I was a biologist with Caltrans over three decades ago. We knew then that the crossing was needed but could not find funding or commitment to build it. That has changed thanks to many, and especially P-22. We'll hear about the life of P-22 and this long-needed project today. Meanwhile, the final status review on listing mountain lions in Southern California as an endangered species is still pending and overdue. We should get an answer in 2023. Music today, we'll hear the Mountain Lion Song by George Bryan and we'll end the show with Mountain Lion Has a Footache, a Navajo foot game song. And now, stay safe and well and head outside when you can. It's time for Making Tracks. Hello everyone, welcome back to Be Provided Conservation Radio. Today is the replay episode of my 2020 interview with Beth Kratz. She is the California Regional Executive Director for National Wildlife Federation and co-creator of Save L.A. Cougars, which is a campaign to build one of the largest crossings over Highway 101, one of the busiest highways in L.A., and this will be for wildlife such as the famous Mountain Lion, P-22. The reason I wanted to replay this episode is to honor P-22, and I do so with a heavy heart. The world-famous Hollywood Mountain Lion was compassionately euthanized on December 17, 2022. Biologists and veterinarians with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife had to make the difficult decision to end P-22's suffering and help him transition peacefully into the next place. This is a summary in a written eulogy that Beth Kratz sent out regarding P-22 that describes a little bit of what the poor guy was suffering from. Here's the quote. Before I say goodbye, I sat in a conference room with team members from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the team of doctors at the San Diego Safari Park Zoo. They showed me a video of P-22 CT scan, images of the results, and my despair grew as they outlined the list of serious health issues. They had uncovered from all their testing stage 2 kidney failure, a weight of 90 pounds, he normally weighs 125, head and eye trauma, a hernia causing abdominal organs to fill his chest cavity, an extensive case of demodex gatoi, not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but it is a parasitic skin infection likely transmitted from domestic cats. He had heart disease and unfortunately more. The most severe injuries resulted from him being hit by a car last week and I thought how terrible it was that this cat, who has managed to evade cars for a decade in his weakened and desperate condition, could not avoid the vehicle strike that sealed his fate, end quote. It's difficult to not cry when thinking of P-22. He overcame so much in his life and taught the world so much about mountain lions and that they can really coexist with humans if given a chance. It has been amazing to see the outpour of sympathy for P-22. The story of his death reached the LA Times newspaper above the fold no less. And today I saw a story in the Rolling Stones and in the Guardian of the UK. So this handsome bachelor of Griffith's part captured the hearts of so many people all over the world. Never thought I'd end up living down in Hollywood No, never thought I would Where the stars, they burn so bright And the freeway's in my eyes And the shadows will leave you alive Yeah, I think I'll stick around this time Never thought I'd end up living down in Hollywood No, never thought I could Where the breezes blow so sweet From the hilltops near the sea From the hilltops near my street And the lion roars while the people sing Yeah, Hollywood, you're what I need Yeah, Hollywood, you're what I need Good morning, it's AirTalk. I'm Larry Mansell. First, we begin with the saga of P-22 who was euthanized Saturday as a result of injuries that appeared to have been suffered in a car collision. Also illness that at the approximate age of 12 P-22 had been dealing with. Joining us to talk about that difficult decision to put P-22 down is the Regional Executive Director of the National Wildlife Federation, Beth Pratt. Beth, thank you for joining us. And first of all, our condolences to you because we know how close you were to P-22 and what a huge portion of his life that big cat has had for you. Yeah, thank you so much for having me, Larry. And last week too, it's hard. I just arrived home late last night and I think I'm, you know, I had to do my job all week, which is really hard, right? You know, I mean, I've lost pets, but I didn't have to be their public spokesperson. But I think home here surrounded my animals, my dogs and cats and hugging them. It's really hitting hard. I mean, this cat changed my life. He changed so many others' lives and it's a really tough time for myself. But what's helped is the world is grieving. I mean, I've never seen a mountain lion trend on Twitter, right? Yeah, yeah. Well, and how many years have you been working with raising money for the overpass over the 101 freeway and all these things that you've been doing to try and protect future P-22s? How many years have you been at this? P-22, when he showed up in 2012, was my reason for doing this. So it was in 2012 when I read about him in the LA Times, like everybody else, and reached out to the National Park Service, who was doing the research on him and other cats, and said, is this true? I mean, really, is there a cat in Griffith Park? And Jeff Sickich, the National Park Service biology, was kind enough to give me a tour. And at the end of the day, after seeing where P-22 lived and the challenges he faced and all the cats faced in their study, I said, how can I help? And Jeff said, well, there's this little wildlife crossing we're trying to get built. And I said, sure, how hard can it be? A little 200 yards long, 160 yards wide, this little thing. Yeah. Yeah, right. And of course, that has been successful. You've raised the money. And how far along is construction? Yeah, construction will be complete in 2025. And you can watch on SaveLACougars.org. There's a live construction camera. You can watch from your own home the progress. It's really moving to me to see the bulldozers there. And I was thinking about it this week. You know, he held on. He held on to get that built. And I think that's going to be a huge part of his legacy, is he helped. You know, we wouldn't have a crossing without P-22. It's his story that galvanized people to do better by these cats. And just to clarify before we leave him in peace, he just was not physically sound enough to even retire to a sanctuary? You know, that was the hope early on. And, listen, I really want to thank the National Park Service and, you know, the folks who really it was their decision for managing the state wildlife, California Department of Fish and Wildlife. They knew me as his biggest advocate. They kept me informed every step of the way. And, you know, there's a lot of conspiracy theories out there. Let me put them to rest. And it's hard to grieve and also, you know, have people attack these people who tried to save him. A sanctuary was an option. They were calling around. But as we know, you have pets, you go to the vet. And something that seemed minor turned out to be major. They walked me through all of his medical conditions, and it was just stacking up. Even with all those, he would not have been able to go to a sanctuary. It would have been a managed care existence, which he would have suffered more. If you watch the video, I have shared it of the briefing. Chuck Bonham, who, you know, is crying when he's announcing this. All the vets are. This was a tough decision, but it's the right thing. Well, and it's not just him. It's what he symbolized. And so in his passing, you grieve about the cat himself, but also about what he has meant for so many people and how he has fueled this tremendous concern for our wildlife here and efforts to try and protect them, and particularly the big predators who get locked in by these islands, just as P2022 was. You're listening to KUBU-FM. Low power and the voice of Sacramento. This program is Making Tracks. And I'm your host, Dale Steele. Broad Weekly at this day and time. I want to start the new year by sharing a story from Southern California that has much broader implications for wildlife and humans. We've had a number of listeners already. Larry in Santa Barbara, Robert in Culver City, we have another listener all saying that the overpass should be named to honor P22. Beth, what do you think of that? I really appreciate that. I think that Wallace Annenberg has really stepped up there, and I think we will do a lot of things to honor him and his name. But I appreciate the sentiment. I really appreciate the sentiment. With us from the National Park Service in Santa Monica Mountains, National Recreation Area, Wildlife Branch Chief Seth Riley, who also teaches ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA. Seth, thank you very much for being with us. Just your thoughts about the death of P22 and the legacy he leaves. He was really an amazing animal, as Beth has been saying, and so many others. And I think he taught us some really important things. One is what wildlife has to deal with in this kind of a landscape. All the freeways and the developments that he had to navigate to end up at this one small, an amazing patch of natural area for a big city, but really a tiny one for a mountain lion. So it really shows the challenges that they face. But I think it also is important because it shows what is possible, what they can do, and the fact that he was in this tiny home range, one sixteenth of the average for other males in our study area and the smallest that anyone has ever recorded. He was in there for ten years, which we never thought would happen. And most importantly, that whole time he was coexisting. There was never evidence, even at the end, when there were sort of challenges with some pets and things, he still was never behaving aggressively towards people. And none of the lions have, in general, with almost no exceptions, just a couple of cases here and there. And so it really shows that these animals can coexist. And as Beth was saying, he really has been such an important symbol for wildlife and for connectivity. And so it's an awesome thing that the crossing has happened and that hopefully fewer animals will end up in a situation like he did. Seth, are there any of the big cats left in the Hollywood Hills area? And how many are being tracked right now in the Santa Monicas? Yeah, so we're tracking nine animals total. We're tracking five in the Santa Monicas currently. And that's not all of them. We're never tracking all of the animals, so we know there's some other ones out there too. We know in general in the Santa Monicas there's room for about a dozen or so. And that's part of the issue, right, is that there's just too small a population in the long run for a viable long-term survival of the population. That's why this connectivity is so important. And then we are tracking a couple of animals in the Simi Hills, which is really interesting, so that's north of 101, and then a couple of animals in the Santa Susana Mountains north of 118. And that is also another important—all of these freeways are important, so we're working on connectivity for all of these different areas and across these different roads. There is an animal that we're—not that we're tracking currently, but that lots of people have gotten photos of over the years between 405 and the Hollywood Freeway, so in the Beverly Hills over to Hollywood Hills area. It's interesting. You never know. It's kind of amazing that that guy has been surviving in that area too, and you just never know. He could end up over there in Griffith Park, or I don't know. We'll see. That is amazing because there's not even a Griffith Park for that calf. No, it's true. Yeah. Wow. It's kind of crazy. There's just little bits of open space here and there, and people get photos of him, as I said. And, you know, we're not tracking him, so we're not totally sure, but we're pretty confident it's the same animal. So, again, it just shows how wildlife up to and including mountain lions can really effectively coexist with people, even in the second-largest metropolitan area in the country. Seth, I assume with the Santa Monica—I'm sorry, with the Simi Valley Hills, the Simi Hills, that there is some degree of connectivity, particularly if you get this overpass built. But with the Santa Susannas, is that landlocked for those two mountain lions? Yeah, and there's more than that up there. Those are just the two that we're tracking. But, no, it's an interesting question. Yeah, so 118, it's not as big a barrier as 101, but it's definitely a significant freeway. And we actually are studying, together with Caltrans, connectivity in that area right now, tracking a number of different species, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, et cetera. There is a crossing, a hiker equestrian tunnel, at Corriganville Park under 118, although it doesn't get as—gets a lot of use by people and not as much use, as we thought, by wildlife. An issue up there, too, is there's not fencing that keeps wildlife off the freeway there, and so we're hoping in the long run that our project can lead to that. We actually lost an adult female and then two of her three kittens all within a couple months, a few years ago, right in that stretch along Rocky Peak there. North of the San Jose is Highway 126, and that's more permeable, although when you have a road that's more permeable, then you have more of an issue of potential mortality on it, and we have had a few animals die up there as well. Well, and you were raising the importance of having safety fencing along the side of the freeway. I know that's a big part of the Liberty Canyon overpass of the 101 because you don't want to have the animals crossing and then turning back to where they'd be vulnerable to being hit again, so it's not just building the overpass, but how far down on that project does the fencing go from being any animals going back over? Yeah, so the fencing is certainly an important part of that project for sure, and so we're going to have fencing all along the freeway leading animals to use the crossing, and then actually in that case the crossing goes over 101 and then over Agoura Road as well, which is helpful. So all of these design considerations are really important, and we're really working on all of those things together with lots of folks that Beth and the National Wildlife Federation have brought in from other projects around the world that are knowledgeable about these things. Denise in Alhambra wonders, how will the animals find the opening, even though it's going to be very wide, but how will this be learned? Well, so one thing that's really helpful in this situation is that just if you look at the landscape, it's really a funnel to this area. There's almost nowhere left where there's natural area on both sides of the freeway, and so it really brings the animals right to that, and Beth has often said too, like if you're up in the air you can see, or even if you just look at Google Maps, you can see that this is really the critical area, but we will do lots of things as well. We're going to make it feel as natural as possible, and we're going to use the fencing, and the truth is we know from our 26 years of science right there, from bobcats and coyotes and mountain lions and et cetera, that is a place already that animals just funnel towards because there's almost nowhere left where there's natural habitat on both sides of the freeway. All right, we're talking with Seth Riley of the National Park Service. He's at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, also adjunct professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA. Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation, but really been the spokesperson for P-22, and we're talking with her about how important P-22 has been to all of us, but particularly for her. Her life has been so intertwined with his well-being and with this wildlife overpass that he really helped to inspire. Gina Yenhasi in the Heights wondering what will become of P-22's remains. Beth? Yeah, my understanding is the plan is that the Natural History Museum will be stewarding his remains. There is a temporary exhibit for P-22, which they are making permanent. Miguel Ordinana, who was part of the study and he helped discover that first photo of P-22, he will be stewarding those remains, so that seems to be the plan. And Ian Santa Clarita emailed, I totally admire P-22. I think he was a symbol of resilience, being different, but carrying on with life. He's definitely my inspiration in some ways. I was wondering how many big cats live in the greater L.A. area. We've kind of talked about that. And also wondering if there's any update of the mountain lion attack in the Pico Canyon Park here in the Santa Clarita Valley. Do you know anything about that? I don't know. I don't have any update. And that's really California Department of Fish and Wildlife that oversees those kinds of things. I mean, I just know the basic facts that someone, it was a nine-year-old that was grabbed and then quickly his father fortunately chased the lion off. And that's all I know about that one. All right. And we had another listener asking, Beth, about whether P-22 would ever attack anybody. And I think you confirmed when we spoke last week that the dog owner who had the confrontation most recently with P-22 did suffer some degree of injury. I think what I, you know, it's important. His behavior, as we all know, and as Seth has been working with for decades, Seth's like family. We've been mourning together. But as the National Park Service and CDFW observed, his behavior changed radically. And given, you know, he had never even displayed aggression to people before. But given the extent of his health conditions, I can see why. He was just desperate and probably not even thinking right. But yeah, she, and my heart goes out to her. I would have done the exact same thing. I have dogs. She got in between P-22 and her dog. And the result of that did suffer scratches that required stitches. So we never want that to happen. We all recognize this was an unusual case for P-22 and the situation. Yeah, and as you say, understandable. You'd want to defend your dog in a certain way. Yeah, absolutely. I would have done the same thing she did. Absolutely. And Brent and Sierra Madre, will people be prohibited from utilizing the wildlife crossing so as to not interfere with the animals? Seth or Beth? Go ahead. Did you want to go Beth? Yeah, Beth. Well, yeah, I mean, it's a short answer, I think. Actually, and Seth, you can weigh in. I think early on, we thought, you know, there's a trail on both sides. We thought, okay, well, if a use trail goes across, no problem. As Seth and Jeff will tell you, these animals are using our trails, obviously, like P-22. So it didn't seem that at least occasional use would interfere. But the public comment period in 2018 overwhelmingly wanted this just for wildlife, which is fine with me. Let's give them primacy. So this will not be accessible or people will not be able to use it. Thank you both so much for being with us. And again, Beth. Thank you for having us. Our condolences because we understand this relationship as much as we have felt attached to P-22. It's a whole other degree with you, and thank you for taking this time and for also being such a wonderful spokesperson for P-22 and so wonderfully balancing the public's interest in learning about him and also the very respectful way that you've presented him to us. Thank you so much. Thank you, and stay tuned. Celebration of life after the holidays. We are looking at venues and dates. It will be the biggest party LA has ever had. All right. Beth Bratt, National Wildlife Federation, and Seth Riley, ditto to you because I know you've done the very same things with P-22. And thank you so much for all your work on behalf of him and our better understanding of that big cat. From Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Seth Riley with us on AirTalk. Let's do it. Yeah. Okay. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. Yo. 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