National Park Service officials said Monday that a young mountain lion they were tracking in the Santa Monica Mountains likely died in the massive Woolsey Fire.
P-74, a male lion born last year, had been unaccounted for since the fire erupted. A dozen other lions being tracked by the Park Service were eventually located, along with four bobcats, but P-74 remained missing. Park officials said in a Twitter post Monday that P-74 likely died in the blaze.
"His GPS collar has not reported to us since Nov. 9, the day the fire moved into the central part of the Santa Monica Mountains," according to the Park Service. "We believe that he had not yet dispersed from his mother, who was not radio-collared."
P-74 was the newest lion being tracked by the Park Service in its study of the animals' movements in the mountains.
