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Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Mountain Lion P-22 Died from Car Accident and Long Term Poisoning per Necropsy by Mary Cummins, Animal Advocates

Mountain lion P-22 died from being hit by a car and poison, california department of fish and game, mary cummins, animal advocates, griffith park, los angeles, california, car, death,died, necropsy, autopsy, puma, cougar, wildlife
Mountain lion P-22 died from being hit by a car and poison, california department of fish and game, mary cummins, animal advocates, griffith park, los angeles, california, car, death,died, necropsy, autopsy, puma, cougar, wildlife

The California Department of Fish & Wildlife finally released the necropsy report for Griffith Park mountain lion P-22 who died December 17, 2022. He died as a result of being hit by a car and long term poisoning. He had five different types of anticoagulant poison in his liver, blood and fat. Research has shown that poison causes permanent organ damage especially to the kidneys. Anticoagulants cause serious kidney damage called anticoagulant-related nephropathy (ARN) and results from bleeding in the kidneys. Poison also causes immunosuppression which causes the body to not be able to defend itself from common mites and other conditions. The poison caused P22 to become ill and weak which is most likely why he came closer to humans looking for easier prey. When they become lethargic from the poison they are more easily hit by cars. Poison killed P-22. We must stop poisoning wildlife. Poison and depredation permits cause 100x more mountain lion deaths than cars. 

In July of 2011, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife requested California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) restrict the use of anticoagulant rodenticides due to numerous incidents involving direct and indirect poisoning of wildlife. Nothing was done. They requested the same in 1999. While CDFW has no jurisdiction over pesticides they do control depredation permits for mountain lions. In light of the many deaths from poison no new depredation permits should be allowed. An emergency injunction is needed. 1,700 mountain lions have been killed in California with depredation permits from 2001 to 2018. Population estimates were 4,000 total in California. 42% were killed by people who were not willing to protect their pets or farm animals with proper barns or fencing.

We did a State Information Act Request to the California Department of Fish & Wildlife for the necropsy report immediately after P22's death. They repeatedly stalled and stalled stating it was a lot of information to compile and would take more time than allowed by the law. The report was finished within days of P22's death. We've had wildlife necropsied at the same state lab that did P22's toxicology report. It takes a few days max. Immediately after finally writing up a lawsuit to compel production of the information act request they department released the report publicly.

California Department of Fish & Wildlife Press Release About P-22 Necropsy Report


Joint news release with National Parks Service

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and National Park Service (NPS) reviewed the final postmortem examination and lab tests from P-22, the beloved mountain lion from Griffith Park. The results confirmed P-22 had been suffering from multiple severe injuries and chronic conditions that impaired his ability to function in the wild and would have lowered his quality of life if placed in human care.

P-22 was captured and anesthetized by CDFW and NPS on December 12, 2022, after scientists noted a recent change in his behavior.

He was transported to the Los Angeles Zoo for initial examination and treatment, then transferred to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for follow-up evaluation, including a computed tomography (CT) scan, where it was discovered that he had serious injuries and health problems. He was euthanized under general anesthesia on December 17, 2022.

The postmortem examination was completed by veterinary pathologists at the San Diego Zoo.

"We are grateful to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Los Angeles Zoo teams," said Deana Clifford, a senior wildlife veterinarian for CDFW. "They provided excellent care for P-22 and conducted a detailed postmortem examination that shed plenty of light on this cat's condition."

Some findings demonstrated that P-22 had recent trauma to his head and right eye, including an orbital fracture with bleeding and early stages of scar tissue development. This is consistent with reports of a vehicle strike the night before he was captured.

P-22 also had injuries consistent with older, significant trauma, including a diaphragmatic rupture, through which the liver and sections of connective tissue from the abdomen had herniated and were inside his chest cavity.

Pathologists determined that this injury was older than the injury to his face and eye due to differences in the stages of scarification associated with each injury.

The examination also confirmed that he was underweight, arthritic and had progressive and incurable kidney disease, as determined before his death. He also had a severe parasitic skin infection over his entire body, caused by demodectic mange and a fungus, specifically ringworm. This is the first documentation of a demodectic mange infection and a concurrent systemic ringworm infection in a California mountain lion.

Toxicology testing on his liver at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory (CAHFS) UC Davis revealed exposure to five anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) compounds. However, he had no evidence of AR poisoning (i.e., unexplained bleeding, injury, illness or death due to exposure to the toxicants).

These include first-generation ARs, diphacinone and chlorophacinone, and longer-lasting and faster-acting second-generation ARs, brodifacoum, bromadiolone and difethialone. Diphacinone was also detected in a sample of P-22's blood collected after he was captured, which may indicate recent exposure. Diphacinone was also detected in P-22's blood in 2014 when he was captured by NPS biologists and treated for a different skin infection caused by notoedric mange.

A separate CDFW study tested 247 mountain lions at the CAHFS lab. It showed that 96 percent of tested animals had exposure to one or more ARs. While felids tend to be more resistant to AR poisoning, there have been at least seven AR-related mortalities in Southern California mountain lions over the last 19 years.

Additionally, desmethylbromethalin, the toxic metabolite of bromethalin, was detected in his body fat. Bromethalin is a widely available rodenticide that targets the brain and affects the central nervous system. Signs of bromethalin poisoning include muscle tremors, seizures, hind limb paralysis, respiratory paralysis and eventually death. There was no indication that bromethalin exposure resulted in poisoning on P-22 medical or pathologic exam. How P-22 was exposed to bromethalin, directly or secondarily through prey, is unknown. However, it is believed to be the latter.

P-22 was likely born in the Santa Monica Mountains as the son of adult male P-1. NPS biologists first captured and radio-collared P-22 in March 2012 when he was estimated to be two years old. He was one of the most senior mountain lions in a study the NPS has conducted since 2002.

He persisted for more than 10 years in Griffith Park and in the smallest home range that has ever been recorded for an adult male mountain lion. But life on this tiny “island” did not come without consequence. After crossing two of the busiest freeways in the world, 101 and 405, he would unknowingly become isolated and never produce offspring. His movements and access to natural habitat and prey would be restricted, putting him at increased risk for interactions with people, collisions with cars and exposure to rodenticides. As extraordinary as P-22’s life was - surviving against all odds - it is an increasingly common reality for wildlife.

"P-22 was a fascinating animal to study," said Jeff Sikich, the lead field biologist of the NPS mountain lion study. "Not only was he an important ambassador for urban wildlife, but his scientific contributions were also many. He helped us understand how mountain lions coexist with humans in this complex urban landscape, and his legacy will live on through our heightened awareness of how to live in harmony with wild neighbors and growing public support for wildlife crossings."

Below is the redacted summary of the necropsy report

"P-22 Necropsy summary for SDZWA Communications

History, medical findings and medical decisions have been previously summarized and shared.
A full post mortem examination was completed by the SDZWA Disease Investigations
department, including gross examination, microscopic examination and ancillary diagnostic
testing.

The post mortem findings are consistent with the animal’s history of recent trauma and confirm
the findings from the extensive diagnostic work up. There were a myriad of acute and chronic
medical conditions that contributed to declining health status.

Consistent with recent trauma, there was a fracture of the right orbital bone and gross evidence
of hemorrhage in the frontal sinus and right eye. The microscopic appearance of the right
orbital fracture included early fibrosis, supporting the time-frame of being hit-by-car 6 days prior
to euthanasia.

Consistent with older trauma, there were tears in the diaphragm, through which liver and
omentum had herniated into the chest cavity. The presence of mature fibrous adhesions
(scarring) indicated this injury was longer standing. There was evidence of chronic vascular
compromise to the herniated liver lobe, while the remaining liver was microscopically within
normal limits.

There was significant, multifactorial skin disease causing the poor condition of the hair coat. In
all examined skin sections (face, neck, hip, foot), there was heavy colonization of hair follicles by
mites (Demodex sp.) and dermatophytes (skin fungus / ringworm, Microsporum canis). Systemic
spread of the skin fungus was found in a lymph node. Generalized Demodex mite infections
suggest underlying immunosuppression or other disease. The skin disease likely contributed to
the deteriorating medical condition and systemic inflammation.

Age related changes were also noted and included heart valve disease, vascular disease, and
kidney disease. Changes were mild but were irreversible.

Toxicologic analysis of a post mortem liver sample for rodenticides was performed by the
California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) laboratory. Five anticoagulant rodenticides
were detected at varying concentrations. There was no evidence of abnormal hemorrhage or
coagulopathy that would suggest toxicosis, grossly or microscopically. Neurotoxic rodenticide
bromethalin was detected in a trace amount. There were no clinical signs consistent with
bromethalin toxicosis. Bromethalin does not typically result in microscopic lesions. Reported
amounts are below.

Anticoagulants Screen - Quantitated, Liver
Analyte Result (Cummins comment: analyte: chemical being analyzed) (ppb)(Cummins comment: part per billion) Rep. Limit (Cummins comment: reporting limit) (ppb)

Brodifacoum, 96, 50
Bromadiolone, 530, 50
Chlorophacinone, 87, 50
Coumachlor, Not Detected, 20
Difethialone, 220, 50
Diphacinone, 960, 50
Warfarin, Not Detected, 20
Difenacoum, Not Detected, 20

(Comment by Cummins. Notice how much higher the poison amounts are in P22 than reporting limit. He had large amounts in his liver. Much more poison was removed from his body via the liver and kidneys. It still does damage even after it's expelled.)

Bromethalin, Adipose Tissue
Analyte Result (ppb) Rep. Limit (ppb)
Desmethylbromethalin, Trace, 1.0

In summary, there was evidence of recent trauma to the head, a prior traumatic event resulting
in diaphragmatic tears and hernia, significant skin disease due to multiple infectious agents, and
exposure to rodenticides.

References


P34 died from anticoagulant poison with five poisons in her system at death
https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/p-34-test-results-confirmed.htm

Anticoagulant poison promotes immune dysfunction in bobcats, mountain lions causing mange deaths
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805946/


Riley SPD, Bromley C, Poppenga R, Uzal FA, Whited L, Sauvajot RM. 2007. Anticoagulant exposure and notoedric mange in bobcats and mountain lions in urban southern California. J. Wildl. Manag. 71, 1874–1884. ( 10.2193/2005-615) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Many have requested that these poisons be restricted due to exposure to nontarget wildlife
https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/registration/reevaluation/2018_investigation_anticoagulant.pdf





Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


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