2 mountain lion kittens killed days apart in Southern California

Two mountain lion kittens — a male and a female — were fatally struck on Southland roadways within two days of each other, it was announced Thursday.

Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation wrote on social media that a female lion kitten believed to be under a year old was struck by a vehicle on Mulholland Drive, east of the San Diego (405) Freeway. Two days later, a male kitten around six months old was fatally struck on Las Virgenes Road between Mulholland and Lost Hills Road in Calabasas.

KTLA5 reported that the male kitten was struck May 16.

Pratt wrote that while the female kitten died tragically, “this young cat left her mark as she was one of only few lions that the National Park Service in the last two decades have documented east of the 405 in the Hollywood Hills.”

“These deaths, and the 56 other cats who the biologists have documented that have died from vehicle strikes in the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills, and Santa Susana Mountains since the NPS study began, underscore the urgent need for wildlife crossings and improving connectivity,” Pratt wrote.

She noted that the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills is set to open Dec. 2, giving animals safe passage over Ventura (101) Freeway.

Pratt said some of the first mountain lions to use the crossing might be kittens dubbed by NPS researchers as P-135, P-136 and P-137, since they were recently tagged at a den site in the Santa Susana Mountains. They are the third litter of kittens birthed by a long-time female in the area, identified as P-48.

“It’s exciting to contemplate that these kittens, two females and a male, might be pioneers — the first cougars to use the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing to safely travel from the north into the Santa Monica Mountains,” Pratt said.

KTLA reported that the female kitten that was fatally struck had not yet been tagged, confusing some experts as to where she had journeyed from, noting that her path may have potentially mirrored that of the area’s late famed lion P-22.