A new mountain lion was spotted on the western edge of Griffith Park — the same location where the celebrity cougar P-22 was once photographed prowling in the darkness with the iconic Hollywood sign looming behind him.
Screenshot from Vladimir Polumiskov’s video on X, formerly known as Twitter
A new mountain lion may have moved into the same iconic California park where a famous cougar lived for a decade, photo and video show.
The newcomer was spotted on the western edge of Griffith Park — the same location where celebrity cougar P-22 was once photographed prowling in the darkness with the iconic Hollywood sign looming behind him.
The beloved mountain lion P-22 called the park in Los Angeles home for about 10 years, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife captured and euthanized P-22 in December 2022 after the revered mountain lion was hit by a car, and a health evaluation indicated the aging cougar was injured and in poor health, McClatchy News previously reported.
His situation highlighted the consequences of cutting wild animals off from their natural habitats and renewed the push to implement solutions such as wildlife crossings over highways, McClatchy News reported.
Griffith Park is nestled in the heart of Los Angeles, about a 30-mile drive east of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The National Park Service manages the area and its wildlife, including mountain lions, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Between 3,200 and 4,500 mountain lions are estimated to live in California, with about a dozen of them in the Santa Monica Mountains, the outlet reported. Low genetic diversity puts them at risk for extinction.
While a wildlife corridor going up over a 10-lane stretch of the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills is “critical” to the species’ survival, Griffith Park also requires safe routes for its wildlife as well, Beth Pratt, regional director for the National Wildlife Federation, told the outlet.
And while the National Park Service has not yet confirmed the sighting of the new mountain lion, wildlife advocates say it’s an exciting new chapter — especially given what the puma could be called if the agency includes it in its decades-long mountain lion study.
“If this cat is confirmed and becomes part of the study, the National Park Service is at the point in their numbering system that he could be named P-122!” Pratt said on X, previously known as Twitter.
Exciting news! We have been getting some reports of a mountain lion sighted in Griffith Park. The @SantaMonicaMtns biologists have been alerted and are investigating.
Please give the cat space if you see him-we are trying to avoid for now people trying to photograph him -lights… pic.twitter.com/QQeIDpClr6
Pratt told the Los Angeles Times that while she’s “a scientist at heart,” she couldn’t help but feel “there is something almost mystical” about the numerical coincidence.
Pratt shared a photo and video clip captured by a resident who lives at the western edge of the park one night as he was parking his car, the Los AngelesTimes reported.
She also warned others to be careful around the potentially skittish and unpredictable predator.
“Please give the cat space if you see him — we are trying to avoid for now people trying to photograph him — lights and sounds from cameras could impact this cat’s behavior as we don’t know if he is as comfortable in front of the cameras as P-22,” she said. “And even P-22 would avoid cameras as well. If you do see him, please let us know as this will help the researchers. He is not collared.”
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area biologists are also investigating the sighting, Pratt said.
“Very exciting to contemplate another mountain lion may be calling Griffith Park home!” she said. “Long live P-22!”
Mountain lion enthusiasts matched Pratt’s joy over the sighting in comments on the post.
“A NEW KING TAKES THE THRONE!” someone said, referring to the cougar’s predecessor, P-22.
“Just reading that there is another mountain lion in GP has me getting all choked up and emotional,” another person said. “Thinking about P-22, the crossings making such progress …. P-22 Wow!”
Brooke (she/them) is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter who covers LGBTQ+ entertainment news and national parks out west. They studied journalism at the University of Florida, and previously covered LGBTQ+ news for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When they’re not writing stories, they enjoy hanging out with their cats, riding horses or spending time outdoors.
Walt Disney famously said that Disneyland will never be completed. He was right.
The vote by the Anaheim City Council on Wednesday to approve the Disneyland resort’s $1.9-billion expansion plan is the latest of several huge investments made by the media giant at the 100-acre facility known to its fans as the “Happiest Place on Earth.”
Once upon a time, Disneyland was just a concept that grew out of a visit by Disney to Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Then on July 17, 1955, the gates were flung open at the then-$17.5-million resort and things have never been the same for the city of Anaheim.
Ticket prices on opening day were $1 for an adult and 50 cents for a child, with each attraction charging extra at each location, ranging from 10 to 35 cents.
In February 2001, Disneyland threw open the doors on its 55-acre California Adventure. At the time, the $1.4-billion addition opened to poor reviews, leading some visitors to dub the park “Six Flags California Adventure,” a biting comparison to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Over the years, the park added Cars Land in a $1.1-billion makeover, Pixar Pier and other locations that harked back to an era of California when red trolleys owned the streets.
In 2019, Disneyland opened its 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a $1-billion expansion that features two rides, shops and retail outlets around the “Star Wars” movie franchise theme. Jedis and stormtroopers roam about the intergalactic city that encourages role-playing with in-character staff.
“If you want to sit back and just watch the world go by, that’s also fine, but I think one of the things that we know about our guests is they want more and more to lean into these stories,” says Imagineer Scott Trowbridge, whom Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger described on social media as the “creator” of Galaxy’s Edge.
The Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride requires riders taking up different roles, with two gunners, engineers and a pair of pilots.
By June 2021, Disneyland set its sights on transporting guests to the world of the Marvel cinematic universe with its Avengers Campus. Built on the bones of A Bug’s Land, construction for the Avengers Campus was waylaid due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually opened to much fanfare within California Adventure. The Orange County Business Journal estimates construction on the site cost $500 million, but the House of Mouse was mum on the official cost.
Avengers Campus boasts a Spider-Man stunt show with a robotic web-slinger who launches from one tower to another and flies 85 feet in the air. The character reappears as a costumed human who scales down the walls of the building to pose for photos with parkgoers at ground level.
Times staff writers Todd Martens and Hugo Martin contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES — Project Angel Food saw a remarkable gathering of celebrities and 200 dedicated volunteers coming together to prepare and deliver 2,000 traditional turkey meals to critically ill clients on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. The initiative culminated in a total of more than 5,000 meals prepared and delivered throughout Thanksgiving week.
Thanksgiving Day at Project Angel Food was not just about distributing meals but also about the spirit of giving back while cherishing moments with family and friends.
Melissa Rivers attends Thanksgiving at Project Angel Food on November 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Project Angel Food)
Melissa Rivers, who recently got engaged to lawyer Steve Mitchel on Oct. 13, made a notable appearance — showcasing her stunning 5.6 carat, emerald-cut engagement ring as she volunteered alongside adult son Cooper Endicott. She shared, “Sometime maybe in 2025. It would be my second marriage and his second marriage so if anything, we’ll have a party, and a ceremony might break out. But nobody’s in any rush.”
Amanda Kloots, host of “The Talk”, expressed her deep affection for Project Angel Food, stating that she fell in love with the cause while filming a segment for the hit CBS talk show. She returned with Zach Braff and her four-year-old son Elvis, emphasizing, “I think it is so important to show our kids how blessed we are and how we can help one another.”
Harry Hamlin attends Thanksgiving at Project Angel Food on November 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Project Angel Food)
Joining the ranks, Lisa Rinna and her husband Harry Hamlin continued their annual tradition of giving back at Project Angel Food on Thanksgiving. Harry offered, “It goes without saying the people of L.A. need to be fed, and we’re here to do it, especially on Thanksgiving.” Lisa added, “It makes you feel good to give back, always, and we need to do it more.”
Actor and model Sam Asghari, marking his first Thanksgiving after his divorce from Britney Spears, refrained from discussing the split but reflected “I think it is important when you have a platform and a voice, and you have the ability to help others it is important to do.”
Sam Asghari attends Thanksgiving at Project Angel Food on November 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Project Angel Food)
Unlikely friends Charo and Kat Von D were among the initial celebrity arrivals. Von D explained their unique bond, stating, “We’re Yin and Yang and complement each other. Since she had heard of Project Angel Food through Charo, she wanted to join.” Charo expressed her enthusiasm for volunteering, exclaiming, “I love people. This is my passion!”
The event saw the participation of other notable celebrity volunteers, including Amy Yasbeck, singer Em Beihold, Eve Mauro, Jai Rodriguez, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Laura Pierson, Lauren Tom, Lawrence Zarian, Lisa Foxx, Loni Love, Mary-Margaret Humes, Michael Hitchcock, Peter Porte, Rachel Lindsay, Sandra Lee, Tamara Brown, and Tim Bagley.
Project Angel Food CEO Richard Ayoub expressed heartfelt gratitude stating, “Every day is like Thanksgiving at Project Angel Food. But on this day, we are especially grateful to our celebrity friends and hundreds of volunteers committed to bringing a little light to the thousands of critically ill men, women and children we serve.”
The meals were provided through “drive-by” pick-up for volunteers who then delivered them to Project Angel Food clients. The traditional Thanksgiving dinners included roasted turkey, root vegetables, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. Additionally, vegetarian meals were also provided. The Thanksgiving Day meals were sponsored by The Stanley & Joyce Black Family Foundation, with additional support from Joybird, which furnished the Joybird VIP Love Lounge, allowing volunteers to take a break during the morning of service.
Lisa Rinna, Harry Hamlin, Richard Ayoub, Lawrence Zarien and Melissa Rivers attend Thanksgiving at Project Angel Food on November 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Project Angel Food)
Beyond serving meals to 2,000 critically ill individuals, Project Angel Food extended its support by providing Thanksgiving Day meals for 500 people at PATH. PATH works tirelessly to end homelessness by building affordable housing and offering supportive services. Furthermore, actress and director Joely Fisher sponsored Project Angel Food meals, hosting a SAG/AFTRA “Friendsgiving” at Hollywood United Methodist Church for 200+ union members affected by the 118-day SAG/AFTRA strike on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.
Project Angel Food remains dedicated to providing daily meals to 2,500 critically ill individuals and delivering more than 1.5 million medically tailored meals annually across Los Angeles. Their clients often grapple with serious illnesses compounded by challenges such as poverty, aging, and isolation. Established in 1989 by Marianne Williamson, the organization has prepared and delivered more than 17 million meals in its 34-year history.
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If the key to a long life — along with good genes and lots of luck — is to keep moving, Pete Teti is on the right trail.
He started Thanksgiving Day as he has begun most every other day for more than 20 years — with a hike in Griffith Park. Teti, three days away from his 100th birthday, met up with his usual cohort of friends near the Griffith Observatory and began the climb toward Mt. Hollywood, a roughly two-mile round trip.
He stopped briefly to take a seat on a park bench that has his name engraved on it — he’s a bit of a legend in these parts — and played his harmonica for a few minutes. Then he was back up and moving.
Pete Teti, middle, turns 100 years old on Sunday. Pete is hiking with his buddies Kori Bernards, left, and her dog Lucca, and Annette Sikand, right, in Griffith Park early in the morning on Thursday in Los Angeles. Teti is mentally sharp and physically fit, an inspiration to friends.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles stretched out beneath us, skyscraper to sea, in the silver, cloud-filtered light of a newborn day. In a city of strivers ricocheting around in congested isolation, the park is an island of repose, a place where lives intersect and time slows. Teti exchanged smiles, waves and greetings of “good morning” and “happy Thanksgiving” with fellow travelers he’s come to know.
“They leave all their problems down there in the city,” Teti said, moving with the ease of a man half his age.
“He’s got a lot of swagger,” said his friend and walking mate Annette Sikand, who took note of Teti’s erect posture and steady gait.
Teti, wearing a charcoal colored newsboy cap, paused at a turnout in the trail and blew into his harmonica again, the Hollywood sign clinging to the mountain at his back. Then the World War II vet, who served in Europe, Africa and the Pacific with the U.S. Army, decided to keep advancing up a steeper portion of the incline.
“I thought we were … ready to go down again, but no,” said Teti’s friend Jay Miller, who is 20 years younger than Teti. “No, you have to keep going up.”
Pete Teti, who turns 100 on Sunday, takes regular hikes in Griffith Park.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Tom McGovern met Teti several years ago, when McGovern accompanied the late Councilman Tom LaBonge on daily hikes, and the men bonded under the hypnotic spell of the park. The senior member of the walking club may have slowed a bit over time, McGovern said, but not much.
“His pace, for his age, is remarkable. No doubt about it,” said McGovern. “For any age, his pace is good.”
Along the dusty trail we bumped into Mozhi Jabberi, who said she was walking once or twice a week until she met Teti recently. Inspired by him, she decided to hike more frequently.
“I want people to know he started his serious hiking at the age of 79,” said Jabberi, 52.
Nancy Kristol and her husband, Mark, were heading up the trail with Rocco, one of the many dogs who seem to enjoy being serenaded by the harmonica-playing hiker. The Kristols met Teti during the pandemic, Nancy said, and she enjoys her encounters with a man so “in tune with his environment and the love of his mountain.”
“It’s very special to have met him up here,” she said, “when there’s all this chaos down there and all this insanity that we’ve all experienced. To meet him up here was just a gift, and we appreciate him every day.”
He follows no secret diet, Teti told me. He eats what he feels like eating — including a pastry at Figaro Bistro, if the mood strikes him, or a burger from In-N-Out. But all things in moderation, he said. He began hiking when he had trouble tying his shoes one day and decided to slim down, and the park is conveniently located not far from his home in Silver Lake.
But there are a couple of things about Teti’s lifestyle that belong in any textbook on aging well. He does not live in isolation, and his physical activity is matched — actually, it’s surpassed — by his intellectual curiosity.
Teti worked for half a century as a teacher in Los Angeles, mostly in the arts, but late in life, he has reinvented himself in pursuit of new interests. Many people, as they age, resist change. Teti embraces it.
“He’s made two violins, he does engraving, he’s a painter, he’s currently creating animation, he’s constantly learning about physics, geometry, fractiles,” said Jay Miller.
The day before our hike, I visited Teti at his home, where he built a stained-glass gazebo in the front yard and laid tiles in the back patio. His studio is stuffed with books, computers and his most recent abstract paintings. He works in one corner of the house while his equally artistic wife, Rose Marie, 89, works in a room that serves as an ever-growing museum of her vibrantly colored paintings and whimsical home-made chandeliers.
Pete Teti holds the harmonica he plays while hiking. He is a hiker, artist, teacher and WWII veteran as he approaches his 100th birthday.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Teti — who took up the harmonica just a few years ago — told me his curiosity dates back to his childhood in southern Italy.
“I was nosey, and from school, I would stop at the cabinetmaker’s and stand by the door and sometimes he invited me in and put a tool in my hand,” Teti said. “And then I’d go to the blacksmith, and he invited me in to make a horseshoe, and I was excited.”
His family moved to Pennsylvania in the 1930s, and Teti settled in Los Angeles after serving in World War II and earning a master’s in art at USC. When school ended, his lifelong course in continuing education began. Teti showed me the bank of screens and keyboards in his workshop, where he’s teaching himself to convert sounds, shapes and colors into computer-driven art and animation.
A lot of it was beyond my comprehension, but Teti bubbled with childlike enthusiasm. Sometimes, he said, it’s impossible for him to get a good night’s sleep. His imagination keeps waking him up.
“It’s pretty incredible that a 100-year-old guy knows how to use this software,” said Les Camacho, a sound engineer who is half Teti’s age and helped him with the computer setup.
Not long ago, Teti called Camacho midday and said hey, let’s go get a burger.
“On the way back from In-N-Out we were listening to KLOS and all of a sudden AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ comes on, so I wanted to change it, and he said, ‘No, no, leave it, I like that,’” said Camacho, 47. “He was head-banging in my car.”
There’s such unbridled optimism and positivity about him, Teti’s friends say, he’s something of a pied piper in the park, where he’s been known to dance a jig while playing his harmonica.
“In a city so big and sometimes so lonely and troubled, he’s a constant light to those who get to be around him,” said Kori Bernards, another hiker.
Pete Teti, second from right, hikes with his buddies in Griffith Park early on Thanksgiving morning.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
A man of 100 might be inclined toward disillusionment at the state of the world, given domestic fracturing, the devastation in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East and the acceleration of climate change. But when I asked him about this, Teti told me he remembers the dirt floors of his childhood home, the Great Depression, the millions of lives lost in World War II and so much more.
“It’s a cycle,” he said. “It seems like I’ve lived from the Renaissance to modern times, and I look back and say what’s happening now is nothing new. It’s happened throughout history. So I tell my friends this is a low cycle right now. … But I trust in younger people who come into the world without the prejudice of adults. I trust young people to change things.”
So how did Teti intend, on Sunday, to celebrate 100?
You guessed it. The plan was to meet pals near the bench with the L.A. Parks Foundation dedication that reads: “Pete Teti. Harmonica man, avid Griffith Park hiker, artist, teacher and WWII veteran.”
And then Teti would lead the walk up the trail and into the next century.
The legacy of Los Angeles’ most famous mountain lion continues Sunday at Griffith Park with the eighth annual P-22 Day.
Wildlife supporters will unite at Shane’s Inspiration playground from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to enjoy live music, food trucks, muralists and native-plant giveaways.
Organized by the National Wildlife Federation’s #SaveLACougars campaign, the free, family-friendly festival hopes to honor the famed mountain lion who amassed a celebrity-worthy following and kick-started campaigns to save wildlife throughout Southern California.
Beth Pratt, a regional executive director in California for the National Wildlife Federation, has celebrated the renowned puma at the park since 2016.
At the start of Sunday’s festivities, she took to the hills where P-22 once roamed.
Pratt recalled more than 13,000 people attending last year’s celebration for L.A.’s most famous cat. But this is the first time P-22 Day has been held since the cougar’s death, so this year’s crowd might be the biggest yet.
“The loss is still really raw for a lot of people,” Pratt said. “During the other seven [festivals] he was here snapping and listening to the music we were playing.”
Not literally, joked Pratt, who sports a tattoo of the cougar’s face on her arm.
But wildlife supporters could bank on the big cat coming down from the mountaintop to amaze onlookers who were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him over the years.
P-22 first captured the world’s attention in 2012, when a motion-sensing camera caught an image of his hindquarters and tail in Griffith Park.
He survived a parasitic infection and a cramped range in Griffith Park, but officials with the National Park Service and the state’s wildlife department captured P-22 after he started to show increasing “signs of distress,” including three attacks on dogsin a month and several near-miss encounters with people walking in Los Feliz and Silver Lake.
Thought to be about 12 years old at the time of his death, the mountain lion was “compassionately euthanized” in December 2022. He was suffering from a number of health issues at the time as well as from internal injuries that officials believed occurred after he was hit by a car.
The cougar’s popularity only grew through the years after his picture was first seen in The Times and in other news coverage over the years.
By order of the Los Angeles City Council, every Oct. 22 is celebrated as “P-22 Day.”
Pratt hopes P-22’s legacy is the link that connects Southern California to all wildlife.
“We want to do more,” she said.
Thankfully, Pratt finds partners in nearly 70 other organizations planning to educate the public on P-22 Day.
“That is P-22’s legacy,” Pratt exclaimed, “showing people in a real way — off the scientific paper — how they can make a difference in the lives of amazing predators.”
There are plenty more events planned throughout Los Angeles during Urban Wildlife Week, but the hike retracing P-22’s journey is among the toughest, according to Pratt.
“The whole reason they do it is to show how hard it is for a person to do it, much less a mountain lion,” Pratt explained.
“It goes to show,” she said, “there’s a lot more we can do to make it a little easier for them.”
