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.