P-22 captured in backyard of Los Feliz home, officials say

P-22, celebrity mountain lion and Griffith Park's most wanted big cat, was captured Monday morning in a Los Feliz backyard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.

Sarah Picchi said the lion was caught at her home near Franklin Avenue and St. George Street in the Franklin Hills area.

The department confirmed P-22 was captured after they received an anonymous tip that he'd been struck by a car in the area. Officials could not confirm if the mountain lion had been hit but said he was "in stable condition."

P-22 had been sought for evaluation by the National Park Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after "exhibiting some signs of distress" in recent weeks, including killing a leashed Chihuahua and attacking another dog.

Picchi was on a work call around 10:50 a.m. when she heard someone buzz at her front gate stating they were with "something wildlife."

Thinking they were canvassing for a wildlife charity, Picchi told them it was not a good time.

"The woman said, 'No, I'm with Wildlife. You have a lion in your backyard,' " Picchi said in an interview with The Times. "Of course, I knew it was P-22 because I've been following the story."

Picchi then opened her front gate, letting in the wildlife personnel, who told her she and her dog should remain indoors while officers attempted to sedate P-22 with a dart.

"The whole thing happened very quickly," she said.

By 11:30 a.m., P-22 had already been sedated and was being loaded into a truck.

Photos and videos shot by Picchi show Fish and Wildlife and National Park Service personnel carrying the large, sedated feline in a green blanket and examining him before loading him into a silver wildlife crate and putting the crate in the back of a truck.

Picchi was told that P-22 had been in her backyard since the night before and was going to be taken to a zoo.

"We have a quarter of an acre and there are a lot of trees. I think he was just resting down there," she said. "He looked healthy."

"It was the most exciting day we've ever had at our house," she added. "My husband and I hope P-22 is safe, and like the rest of L.A. we're just rooting for him."

At nearly 13 years old, P-22 has grown up in the public eye. A transplant from the Santa Monica Mountains, he made his way to Griffith Park over a decade ago when he crossed multiple freeways and landed in the middle of what was considered a wildlife island.

"We've never seen a mountain lion live in such an urban area," Beth Pratt, with the nonprofit National Wildlife Foundation, said recently.

His coexistence with humans over the years has earned him legions of fans, and animal conservationists say he helped garner support for a multimillion-dollar wildlife crossing over the 101 Freeway.

Biologist Miguel Ordeñana set up a series of trail cameras in Griffith Park around 2011 as part of a study to capture the movement of mammals through the many corridors leading into the park. One night in February 2012, Ordeñana caught sight of a large animal with a long, puma-like tail and paws.

At first, Ordeñana thought it was a big dog, but several other photographs caught on the cameras showed it was a mountain lion passing through the area.

"It felt like seeing some sort of mythical creature, like Bigfoot or Chupacabra, for the first time," said Ordeñana, who now works as an environmental educator and wildlife biologist for the National History Museum of Los Angeles County.

P-22 has remained isolated for years, wandering around without companions or challengers to his territory but with human development and freeways barring his path. In 2016, it's believed he killed a koala at the Los Angeles Zoo. In the last month, P-22 has attacked two domestic pets. He killed a leashed Chihuahua out on a walk, and another narrowly escaped the mountain lion's clutches.

His behavior sparked concern and led to the decision to capture and evaluate him, an operation that the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife worked on together. But they had not set any traps in the area when they received the anonymous call Monday. They were able to track down P-22's location through his GPS collar.

"CDFW veterinarians and NPS biologists will determine the best next steps for the animal while also prioritizing the safety of the surrounding communities," the agencies said in a joint statement.

After underoing a veterinary evaluation, it's unclear where P-22 will head next.