The mountain lion was caught in the Tesla\u2019s headlights. Vladimir Polumiskov moved both quickly and slowly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention.<\/p>\n

He put his 2-year-old son back in the car seat and got behind the wheel and quietly closed the door. His wife, Anastasiia Prokopenko, was in the passenger seat; she couldn\u2019t believe what they were seeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo way. No way,\u201d she said. \u201cGet in the car. Get in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family, just back from a sushi dinner on Tuesday night, had pulled into a parking space at their apartment complex off Barham Boulevard in the Hollywood Hills. Living on the western edge of Griffith Park, they were accustomed to seeing wildlife \u2014 coyotes, bobcats, deer, foxes \u2014 wandering into their backyard. But a mountain lion was extreme.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not getting out,\u201d Prokopenko said.<\/p>\n

Less than 13 feet away, the cat was sitting on the low-angled trunk of an oak tree, partly hidden by weeds, his blond coat set off by the bright lights. Polumiskov, 30, reached for his phone and started shooting video.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy was huge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Though the sighting has not been confirmed by the National Park Service, which oversees the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and has also studied wildlife in the 4,000 acres of Griffith Park, the possibility of a mountain lion making its home in this island wilderness may give many Angelenos a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again.<\/p>\n

The mountain-lion king of Griffith Park \u2014 a cat known as P-22<\/a> \u2014 roamed these hills for 10 years. Captured in December 2022, he was euthanized after a team of doctors determined that because of internal injuries and infection, he was too sick to return to the wild.<\/p>\n

A few months before, Polumiskov said he had seen P-22 skulking through the same parking lot before running off. \u201cI had the same reaction then,\u201d he said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t change. It was shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLos Angeles misses P-22,\u201d said Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation, perhaps his most ardent champion.<\/p>\n

In February 2023, Pratt helped organize at the Greek Theatre a sold-out celebration of his improbable life in Griffith Park, drawing more than 6,000 people wanting to pay their respects to the charismatic cat who, surrounded by development, freeways and cemeteries<\/a>, lived peaceably in the center of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Seven months later, the eighth annual official P-22 Day festival drew 15,000 attendees.<\/p>\n

When Pratt first heard of this new sighting, she felt slightly overcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does my heart good,\u201d she said . \u201cIt felt like P-22 had sent someone back to us \u2014 just to keep the hope alive that we hadn\u2019t entirely banished the wildness in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Park Service, which has reviewed Polumiskov\u2019s video, is taking the claim seriously, according to spokesperson Ana Beatriz Cholo.<\/p>\n

The park service has been studying the mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains since 2002, when it collared its first cougar, which was given the name P-1 (P is for puma). Since then, it has tracked and collared 121 of the animals throughout the park. <\/p>\n

If collared, the big cat in last week\u2019s video would be P-122.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n