P-52, the 7-month-old kitten whose mother was P-39, met the same fate as the kitten’s mother after the animal was struck and killed on the freeway. Patrick Healy reports for the NBC4 News on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017.
Just a month after mountain lion P-39 was killed when she was struck on a freeway, her 7-month-old kitten P-52 was struck and killed on the same stretch of road Thursday, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area officials said.
P-39, fitted with a GPS collar by researchers, was killed when she was struck on the 188 Freeway near the Rocky Peak exit Dec. 3.
Researchers investigated when P-39’s collar stopped functioning, but the cat’s remains were never found.
Many wondered about the fate of her young, three 7-month-old kittens P-50, P-51, and P-52, after her death. Tragically, P-52 met the same exact fate a month later Thursday.
P-52’s death would mark the 14th case of a mountain lion killed on a freeway or road in the region since 2002.
