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Mountain Lion Struck, Killed On Southern California Freeway Apparently Chased There By Second Lion

(National Park Service photo)
This uncollared mountain lion is believed to have chased lion P-61 onto the 405 Freeway, leacing to its death when it was hit by a passing vehicle

A mountain lion from the Santa Monica Mountains which was struck, and killed by a vehicle on a freeway may have ended up there because he was being chased by another mountain lion. Mountain lion P-61 died September 7th when he was hit on the 405 Freeway in the Sherman Oaks area.

The mountain lion had a radio tracking collar, and was one of the big cats monitored by National Park Service biologists. Researchers say some dramatic new surveillance video shows that P-61 was chased by an uncollared male lion minutes before he ran onto the freeway.

P-61 made it about halfway across the ten lane freeway before he was struck and killed. Biologists say mountain lions are territorial, so one lion chasing another isn’t unusual.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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