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Puma Profiles: P-63

Mountain Lion looking into camera at night.

Male
Initial capture date: February 2018

When the Woolsey Fire broke out on Nov. 9, 2018, P-63, a young male mountain lion, was actually a little bit north of the flames in the Simi Hills. In the period that we've been following him, he's actually moved between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains, though we don't know how he is managing to get across (or under) the 101 Freeway. He crossed back south into the Santa Monica Mountains and has been spending the majority of his time in the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains.

He has been recaptured several times to replace his GPS radio-collar (the last time being Jan. 26, 2021). Biologists report that the mountain lion looks good, despite the many healed wounds on his body. This is common in males and is likely a result of territorial fights. Besides deceased cat P-64 (who may be his father!), he is the only cat we are currently tracking that has moved back and forth between both sides of the freeway.

P-63, a Simi Hills subadult, was captured with his mom, P-62, in February 2018 and outfitted with a GPS collar. He was approximately 15 months old at the time of his capture and has since dispersed from his mother. Both cats were captured north of the 101 Freeway on Boeing land at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in the Simi Hills. P-63 has one other sibling from his same litter, but that sibling has not been captured.

P-63 crossed the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon from north to south sometime in the early morning hours on May 28, 2018. Though we can't know for sure, our best guess is that he actually ran across the freeway. We did not find any images of him on any of the remote cameras we have monitoring road and culvert underpasses in the area.

P-62 | Back to Puma Profiles Homepage | P-64

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Last updated: January 20, 2023