This beautiful medal of P22 mountain lion in his home of Hollywood and Griffith Park was awarded to us by Poison Free Malibu who are campaigning against anticoagulant rodenticides and the devastating effects they have on wildlife. As writers, our passion is tell stories, tell emotional truths, engage and entertain. We write because we want to reach out to our fellow humans and share our world and everything that is important to us. But sometimes its very satisfying to be acknowledged and rewarded for our work. Thank you for reading!
“My favourite part of the story was when he has to cross the busy roads to get to the new park.” – 7 Year old reviewer of The Cat That Changed America
Book Review
My favourite part of the story was when he has to cross the busy roads to get to the new park.
I really enjoyed reading this book because it is an exciting true story.
It is about a mountain like called P22 who has to leave his mother’s territory as he is now a grown lion. He goes on a long journey from the Santa Monica mountains and through Hollywood to find a park that he can make his home.
This is really scary for animals as the roads are so fast and dangerous. He made a incredible journey that was over 60 miles long, in the end he is happy in his new home.
The true life story of P22 mountain lion is given an imaginative twist for readers as we follow his journey from his birth place in the Santa Monica Mountains to Griffith Park, while crossing two freeways along the way. The book is available to order through your local bookstore, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
P-95 has been tagged by wildlife biologists studying the mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains.
There’s another mountain lion in town looking for celebrity and he’s a beauty. Meet P-95, a one and a half year old male and the tenth mountain lion to be currently tagged and tracked.
Unfortunately there isn’t enough space to go around in the Santa Monica Mountains which is why the building of a wildlife crossing over the 101 is essential.
The plight of Mountain Lions is imaginatively told in a new book called “The Cat That Changed America”
which is based on the film now available through Video on Demand:
There’s some good news to start the first month of 2021 despite the worldwide gloom.
The three California Mountain lion cubs who lost their homes and were orphaned by last years wild fires have settled into their new home at Columbus Zoo.
The three cubs name Goldie, Captain Cal and Poppy met Jessie a mostly blind mountain lion and resident of Columbus Zoo. Jessie seems very interested in the cubs and is behaving in a maternal manner towards them.
Goldie has proved to be the boldest and has approached Jessie to play with her. Her sister Poppy is never far behind and will follow Goldie as they explore their new home. But Captain Cal is being wary and taking his time to get to know Jessie. Heart warming during these times.
The Cat That Changed America features in Kelly’s Classroom Online. With fun and educational activities for children, this is a great way to get them involved in conservation and find out about the challenges facing not only mountain lion’s but all wildlife. Habitat loss, lack of connectivity and poisoning are just some of the issues facing animals in the wild.
Some good news to start 2021! The Cat That Changed America film is now available on Vimeo on Demand through the distributor Earth Touch.
The film which first premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival has been a popular favourite at other festivals such as Green Screen in LA, the New York Wildlife and Conservation Film Festival and the San Luis Obispo Film Festival. The story tells the incredible journey of P22 mountain lion from his birthplace in the Santa Monica Mountains to Griffith Park, crossing two major freeways along the way. It also tells the story of Los Angelenos and conservationists as they raise money to build a wildlife crossing over the 101 freeway. This is very timely as the crossing strikes ground this year.
Captain Cal and two Sisters – the 3 mountain lion cubs waiting for their new home.
2020 has been a challenging year to say the least yet there have been incredible stories of hope, resilience and inspiration. One of the most inspiring animal stories is that of the 3 lion cubs which were rescued and found a new home.
The cubs have been recovering at the Oakland Zoo after being rescued from the flames. One of the lions was a weeks-old cub that was rescued from California’s Zogg Wildfire and was brought to the Oakland Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital for treatment and rehabilitation.
The male, nicknamed Captain Cal, had been severely burned and was found limping on a burned-out road in Redding, CA in September. It took 47 days for him to fully heal.
The Oakland Zoo shared a video showing the overnight journey to Ohio. The cubs boarded a FedEx aircraft at the Oakland International Airport.
“Captain Cal and the girls received top-notch service on their early morning journey from our Vet Hospital to Oakland International Airport, and on to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium by dinnertime,” the zoo wrote in a caption with the video.
The other two cubs were unnamed sisters. The sisters and Captain Cal were packaged up and sent to the Columbus Zoo.
The mountain lion cubs were recently transported by FedEx from Oakland Zoo in California to Ohio’s Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
The trio will be introduced to another mountain lion named Jessie who is 17 years old and who lives at the Columbus Zoo.
The three mountain lion cubs are such an inspiring story and illustrate the many challenges facing young animals which are detailed in “The Cat That Changed America” book which was written during lockdown and is available now.
The Cat That Changed America feature in Citizen’s Journal
P22 Mountain Lion features in this week’s Citizen Journal which covers news and entertainment in Ventura County. The write up profiles the new book “The Cat That Changed America” which is based on P22’s incredible true story crossing two freeways to reach Griffith Park in the middle of LA.
Mountains lions in Southern California gained interim protections and won a key court case, two bright spots for environmentalists in 2020. Above, a mother mountain lion with three kittens at Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks. (Courtesy of Irvine Ranch Conservancy)
Happy Christmas from The Cat That Changed America! This beautiful photo of a mother mountain lion and her three kittens brings cheer to us on Christmas. It shows how important it is to protect these beautiful cats which need large territories but are the victims of habit loss, lack of connectivity and fragmentation. The story of P22 is reimagined in a new book “The Cat That Changed America” and the challenges that these cats face. But there is hope as shown in this beautiful picture.
Happy Christmas Eve to all cat lovers, book lovers and nature lovers everywhere! May your Christmas Eve be full of joy, hope and happiness wrapping presents and respect for all nature’s wild things.
