Mountain lion sighting in Monrovia sparks excitement as SoCal mourns loss of P-22
MONROVIA, Calif. (KABC) -- As Southern California mourns the loss of P-22, many are taking comfort in the fact that the big cats are still thriving in some areas.
Ashley Howie's Monrovia home has become a sanctuary of sorts to all kinds of wildlife, big and small.
"We film bears all the time. We have a fox family. We've had bobcats the past few weeks."
But for the last six months, there's been another occasional guest who Howie looks most forward to seeing.
"As fun as the bears have been, my goal, my ultimate goal, has been to capture... our little resident mountain lion on camera, but in color."
On Sunday night, she was able to do just that, capturing footage of the male mountain lion as it crossed her property.
"It was just so exciting to see him. Even though we all know what a mountain lion looks like, it's just exciting to finally see this male mountain lion that I've been recording since July," Howie said.
It's an excitement that many seem to share. Howie has tens of thousands of followers on TikTok where, among dances and pranks, there seems to be an appetite for wildlife.
Southern Californians have always taken a special interest in the region's big cats. P-22 was a Hollywood celebrity for a decade, living in Griffith Park until his death earlier this month.
A wildlife bridge over the 101 Freeway should help these cougars and other at-risk animals survive across the region, but we're still about three years away from its completion. So until then, there's a lot humans can do to successfully co-exist with our four-legged neighbors.
"You just learn to live with them. That they keep their distance, you keep yours," she said. "We're so casual about the animals, but we also are aware that they're here. To be out at night like we are now, this is a huge "no" in the rulebook, because you never know what's lurking in the shadows. But we're always aware that something could be out there."
Howie says they have about a dozen bears that visit her property. They've given them names and one of them is pregnant, so they're expecting to see some cubs in the future.
