Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood's Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife
by Meeg Pincus
Illustrated by Alexander Vidal
Beach Lane Books
Simon & Schuster
2021
40 pages
ISBN: 9781534461857
Beautiful cover illustrations will help this picture book fly off the shelf! It's not easy being a cougar, aka mountain lion, aka puma in a crowded city like Los Angeles. When a male cub grows older, he wants to have a large area to roam and find a mate, but P-22 is stuck in a small area with freeways all around him. With no clear way to get the nearby mountains, P-22 began to enter yards, pools, shopping areas, even tourist attractions until he found himself in Griffith Park, a small city park in the middle of L.A. When he's caught on camera, he becomes an international celebrity which was a godsend for him and all the area's wildlife.
Because P-22 gave a face to the puma's plight, concerned humans began building the animal crossing at Liberty Canyon which is expected to be completed by 2024 and it will be the largest animal bridge or crossing in the world. Pumas and other wild animals will be able to make their way across a nature bridge covered in grass and trees to safety.
A page showing twenty years of history of the mountain lions who live around L.A. is fascinating. It's sad to realize more cougars are killed by cars and rat poisoning. Hopefully the law will be passed that prohibits certain dangerous poisons in order to save L.A.'s cougar population. A helpful list of websites and facts follow.
This one is a MUST READ, MUST HAVE purchase. Buy this book for your favorite child.
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