P-59 and P-60: the names which have been bestowed upon two baby mountain lions just discovered in the Santa Monica Mountains. As their namesakes imply, the cubs are but the latest in a series of numerically-named wild mountain lions.
Now while these younglings have just entered the world, the same can't be said for their suspected father - the notorious "P-12," who earned a bit of an infamous reputation due to the large influx of documented cougar breedings that coincided with his initial arrival.
Mr. 12's arrival and apparently exceptionally "virile" mating patterns continue a pattern of deep inbreeding, allowing an individual male lion to act as both father and grandfather to any given cub or set of cubs. The numbers have increased significantly since P-12 first crossed the 101 freeway.
But therein lies the greatest danger: the threat of deadly encounters with humans or human technology. Such was the case in December of last year, when P-39, a mother of three kittens, was killed while attempting to cross the 118 freeway.
Read the full story at LATimes.com