The city of Los Angeles will memorialize its most famous mountain lion with a bronze sculpture at Griffith Park, the ۴,۲۰۰-acre (۱,۷۰۰-hectare) stretch of land the cougar once roamed.
Known as “P-۲۲”, the number assigned by the team of biologists that first identified him, the lion gained national fame after photographer Steve Winter captured an iconic image of him prowling through Griffith Park with the Hollywood sign in the background.
The sculpture, by Los Angeles artist Adam Matano, will be installed at the park’s visitor center, according to the National Wildlife Federation, which championed the project through its Safe LA Cougars campaign.
The sculpture shows a muscular P-۲۲ stepping down from one podium, decorated with images of animals native to southern California, down to a second perch, which features reproductions local flora.
Matano tried to capture the “idea of the wild entering Los Angeles and awakening the city to the nature already within it”, he said in a statement. He aimed to transform P-۲۲ “into a king not because he dominated the territory but rather because he lived according to his own nature and captured the heart of a city”.
The project was paid for with private philanthropy.
The GPS-collared lion attracted a devoted following in Los Angeles, where his moves often became the subject of local news coverage.
Likely born in the Santa Monica mountains, P-۲۲ had to cross about ۱۰ lanes of traffic on LA’s famously gridlocked freeways to make his home in Griffith Park.
That feat became a driving force behind the Wallis Annenberg wildlife crossing, which is slated to open in December. It will become the world’s largest wildlife crossing, and promises to improve genetic diversity in the Santa Monica mountains, where cougars show signs of inbreeding.
Wildlife officials euthanized P-۲۲ in December of ۲۰۲۲, after he attacked a leashed dog and began showing signs of declining health, likely precipitated by a vehicle strike. They estimated his age at ۱۲ years old.
