Even in demise, the mountain lion referred to as P-22 is caught between two worlds.
To many Angelenos, he was a star and image of an untamed California that’s shortly vanishing. But for hundreds of years, Native American tribes referred to as mountain lions lecturers and seen them as their kinfolk.
Now that P-22 has been euthanized by wildlife authorities, it’s unclear what will occur to the remains of the well-known mountain lion. While authorities businesses and museum officers think about the ultimate resting place for the cat, the Native American group in Southern California needs P-22 to be buried close to Griffith Park with a ceremony that honors his spirit.
Originally from the Santa Monica Mountains, P-22 gained worldwide recognition after he was photographed in entrance of the Hollywood signal and lived in Griffith Park on ancestral Gabrieleno/Tongva land.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County obtained P-22’s physique from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Friday. Although beforehand thought of, museum officers mentioned Thursday they do not plan to taxidermy P-22’s physique or put his remains on show, which was a significant concern for the Native American group.
But it’s nonetheless unclear what the longer term holds for the large cat.
Researchers have been already within the means of gathering samples and performing a necropsy — a sort of an animal post-mortem — on P-22 once they realized concerning the issues from the Native American communities. That course of has been placed on maintain whereas the museum gathers extra suggestions from these teams. Several Native American individuals contacted by The Times mentioned they’d not initially been approached by the museum for suggestions however have since been in talks about how to honor P-22’s remains.
Research on P-22’s physique might present the firsthand results of an city setting on a mountain lion who managed to eke out his existence for greater than a decade surrounded by people, in accordance to biologists. It’s unlikely that there can be one other like P-22, so he would yield distinctive information about his expertise, conservationists say.
But the considered P-22 going to a museum as a specimen fills tribal group members with dread.
“That’s not our way. That’s a scientific colonial way,” mentioned Kimberly Morales Johnson, tribal secretary of the Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. “That cat is a relative to us.”
The Tongva phrase for mountain lion is tukuurot. In their creation story, mountain lions have been considered one of a number of animals that watched early people develop and flourish.
Alan Salazar, tribal elder with the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, whose ancestral land contains a part of the Santa Monica Mountains, understands the significance of learning P-22’s physique.
But there’s a storied history with universities and museums that collected Native American cultural objects and human remains, Salazar mentioned.
“Almost every university in California has boxes of Native American human remains. Bones, skeletons, skulls that they claim they need to study to learn more,” Salazar mentioned. “And our answer is always the same: ‘How long do you need?’”
Alan Salazar, a tribal elder with the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, at Chatsworth Nature Preserve on Wednesday, in Chatsworth.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Natural History Museum representatives mentioned in a written assertion that they “recognize and honor that people are impacted in different ways” by P-22’s life and demise and do not plan to show P-22’s physique on the museum.
“This has been a particularly emotional and difficult time for our team members who have devoted the last decade to understanding and learning from P-22,” the assertion mentioned.
The museum mentioned it’s in conversations with Chumash and Tongva tribes to give respectful consideration to what occurs to his remains.
A California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson mentioned the company didn’t seek the advice of with the tribal group earlier than it determined that the Natural History Museum would obtain P-22’s remains. Fish and Wildlife officers have been “laser focused” on P-22’s well being as soon as they discovered him in a Los Feliz yard on Dec. 12 after he was hit by a automobile.
“It took all of our energy and effort to work through those decisions,” Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Jordan Traverso mentioned in a written assertion. “I acknowledge and accept we may have overlooked this important step.”
P-22’s remains have been being held on the San Diego Zoo, the place he was introduced for remedy earlier than officers made the choice to euthanize him Dec. 17.
Whatever comes from the discussions about what to do with P-22, Fish and Wildlife believes his story can be ready to train future generations about his struggles as a part of a segregated wildlife inhabitants.
State and county businesses typically seek the advice of with members of tribal communities when new developments are constructed on their ancestral land.
Members of the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians, Kizh Nation, have been requested to present suggestions for state initiatives constructed on their ancestral land quite a few instances, Indigenous biologist Matt Teutimez mentioned. The course of can embrace a blessing carried out by tribal elders, and in different cases tribal members present cultural and scientific suggestions.
Native American enter can typically really feel like an afterthought, Teutimez mentioned.
“They usually just want our participation. They already have their minds made up with their Western thought of how to remedy the problem,” Teutimez mentioned. “All they wanted was our tribe to get involved for the photo op.”
He’s hopeful that P-22 can present a teachable second on how Western tradition wants to reevaluate its relationship with wildlife and think about it extra than simply animals.
P-22 has already left an indelible mark on the world and accomplished extra to push conservation efforts than another animal in recent times, conservationists and researchers mentioned.
His perilous trek throughout two main freeways greater than a decade in the past confirmed that mountain lions face destruction due to habitat loss and lack of biodiversity. P-22 impressed conservationists to push for an $88-million wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway close to Agoura Hills, so different mountain lions and wildlife wouldn’t be blocked in by human improvement.
Beth Pratt, a regional government director in California for the National Wildlife Federation, considers herself considered one of P-22’s largest boosters. His demise has lingered with her for days, and he or she has bother imagining a Griffith Park with out him. While she understands the significance of learning P-22’s life, Pratt stands with the Native American group in its name to bury the large cat in Griffith Park.
“I hope discussions and some sort of compromise can be made that allows some of what the museum needs for scientific purposes, but ultimately also allow for a respectful burial,” Pratt mentioned.
More than a decade in the past, a mountain lion roaming Griffith Park appeared like an city legend to biologist Miguel Ordeñana, who grew up across the park. In 2012, he was the primary individual to {photograph} P-22 i with a motion-sensor path digicam. At the time, P-22 was an unnamed cat that proved the unimaginable and located his manner to the park.
Miguel Ordeñana, 39, senior supervisor of group science on the Natural History Museum, standing subsequent to a digicam lure on the museum in April. Ordeñana was the primary individual to uncover and {photograph} the mountain lion P-22 dwelling in Griffith Park.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Ordeñana, now the wildlife biologist with the Natural History Museum, is attempting to make clear the museum’s intentions for P-22.
More than a yr in the past, he utilized for the Natural History Museum to obtain P-22’s remains from the state for analysis functions. He referred to as it a painful determination, as a result of he at all times hoped P-22 would die peacefully in Griffith Park. He beforehand thought that P-22 can be placed on show on the museum, however now he hopes there is usually a dialogue about what to do.
Ordeñana mentioned he utilized for P-22’s remains “intentionally so that it could be accessible to the Indigenous community. But I could have done better. I appreciate being able to learn from that.”
Like so many within the scientific group who watched the large cat develop outdated, Ordeñana continues to be processing P-22’s demise. In some ways, Ordeñana is having a tough time with the demise, for a creature who was greater than an animal and one he speaks of with nice reverence.
“We’re not sure exactly what the next steps are,” Ordeñana mentioned. “I think we all want what’s best for P-22.”