A male mountain lion followed in his sister's footsteps - well, almost -- after crossing the Ventura (101) Freeway, park officials said Friday.
P-32 crossed the 101 Freeway on April 3, less than a month after his sister, P-33, crossed the same freeway, according to a National Park Service news release.
The big cat became the first male to successfully disperse in the National Park Service's 13-year mountain lion study.
"Almost all of the young male mountain lions we’ve studied die prematurely, either from a vehicle collision or after a fight with a dominant adult male," Dr. Seth Riley, a wildlife ecologist for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said in a statement. "It's hugely significant that P-32 was able to disperse out of the Santa Monica Mountains so that he has a chance to avoid larger males and eventually establish his own territory."
The 17-month-old cat dispersed north after crossing the far western end of the Santa Monica Mountains similar to his sister's crossing, officials said.
He then voyaged across State Route 23 into the central natural area of Simi Hills, unlike his sister, who ventured into State Route 23, but went back near her original crossing area, officials said.
P-32, his female siblings and their mother were recently captured in a series of photographs.
