Mountain lion famous for navigating LA freeway died in Woolsey fire

The mountain lion who gained fame for his ability to safely navigate at least two of the busy Los Angeles freeways was found dead on Monday. Dubbed the “Culvert Cat” because of the culverts he used to cross the 101 and 118 Freeways, the four-year-old male became another victim of the Woolsey Fire that destroyed 97,000 acres, 150 structures and killed three people.

According to CNN, the National Parks Service, with a team of biologists, went out last week to search for the mountain lion, also known as “P-64.”  Earlier in the year, he had been captured and fitted with a GPS monitoring system and then released back into the wild. It had originally been thought the mountain lion had survived the November 8 fire.

Tragically, “P-64” was found dead in the Simi Hills area of Los Angeles. He appeared to have been dead for days; his paws had been badly burned. Researchers believed he may have suffered for days before dying.

“P-64 was a fascinating cat to study because he crossed our notoriously deadly freeways dozens of times. It’s very unfortunate that he was seemingly so successful surviving in this fragmented landscape and then died in the aftermath of a devastating fire,” stated Jeff Sikich, a biologist for the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area.

A necrospy will be performed to determine the exact cause of Culvert Cat’s death.

Rest in peace big guy.

(Photos via US Park Service via AP)

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