Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates have buried Southern California’s most well-known mountain lion Saturday within the mountains the place the large cat as soon as roamed
LOS ANGELES — Tribal leaders, scientists and conservation advocates buried Southern California’s most well-known mountain lion Saturday within the mountains the place the large cat as soon as roamed.
After making his house within the city Griffith Park — house of the Hollywood Signal — for the previous decade, P-22 turned a logo for California’s endangered mountain lions and their reducing genetic variety.
The dying of the cougar, named P-22 as a result of the animal was the twenty second puma in a Nationwide Park Service examine, late final 12 months set off a debate between the tribes within the Los Angeles space and wildlife officers over whether or not scientists might preserve samples of the mountain lion’s stays for future testing and analysis.
Some representatives of the Chumash, Tataviam and Gabrielino (Tongva) peoples argued that samples taken through the necropsy needs to be buried with the remainder of his physique within the ancestral lands the place he spent his life. Some tribal elders mentioned preserving the specimens for scientific testing can be disrespectful to their traditions.
Tribal representatives, wildlife officers and others mentioned a possible compromise for hours in current weeks, however it was not instantly clear Monday what conclusion the group reached earlier than P-22 was buried in an unspecified location within the Santa Monica Mountains on Saturday.
The normal tribal burial included songs, prayers and sage smoke cleansings, in line with Alan Salazar, a tribal member of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and a descendent of the Chumash tribe.
Salazar, who attended the ceremony, mentioned he believes P-22’s legacy will assist wildlife officers and scientists notice the significance of being respectful to animals going ahead.
Wildlife officers imagine P-22 was born about 12 years in the past within the western Santa Monica Mountains, however left due to his father’s aggression and his personal battle to discover a mate amid a dwindling inhabitants. That drove the cougar to cross two closely traveled freeways and migrate east to Griffith Park, the place a wildlife biologist captured him on a path digital camera in 2012.
A boulder from Griffith Park was delivered to the gravesite within the Santa Monica Mountains and positioned close to P-22’s grave, Salazar mentioned.
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