In February of 2023, a crowd of 6,000 people packed the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, to celebrate the extraordinary life and legacy of the city’s beloved mountain lion known as P-22. Millions more across the globe joined Los Angeles in mourning this remarkable cat, who had to be compassionately euthanized.

P-22 rose to fame in 2012, when he miraculously crossed two of the busiest freeways in the country to find a home in an unlikely place: in the middle of the second largest city in the country. Hemmed in by freeways and urban sprawl on all sides, P-22 survived trapped and alone in the city for over a decade -— a feat borne of awful necessity.

His plight compelled us to act, and people around the world joined the movement to build the visionary Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing to save P-22’s mountain lion kin from extinction and ensure a future for all wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Yet our work is not finished. I was grateful to be given the opportunity to say goodbye to P-22 before he died, and as I sat next to this magnificent animal with tears flowing down my face, I promised him I would never stop working to honor his legacy.

The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing would not have been possible without P-22, but the most fitting memorial to P-22 will be how we carry his story forward in the work ahead. One crossing is not enough – we must build more, and we must continue to invest in proactive efforts to protect and conserve wildlife and the habitats they depend on – even in urban areas.

Please join us in continuing this historic work in honor of P-22. Together, we can connect Southern California – and beyond –for all wildlife.

Sincerely,
Beth Pratt
California Regional Executive Director, National Wildlife Federation & Leader #SaveLACougars Campaign

THE NEXT FRONTIER

Now in the legacy phase of this monumental effort, the #SaveLACougars campaign seeks to
raise funds that will:

• Ensure the holistic completion of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing as a fully integrated and thriving habitat that reconnects an entire ecosystem in the Santa Monica Mountains
  • Completing design and construction (slated for end of 2025), habitat stewardship, native plant nursery operations, education and outreach, and supporting National Park Service research efforts
• Advance future wildlife crossings and connectivity projects in Southern California that will continue to reconnect critical wildlife corridors and restore the ecological vibrancy of the country’s most densely populated urban area – a conservation legacy of the century