Puma at home in LA's Griffith Park

The long-rumored presence of a mountain lion said to be wandering Griffith Park in Los Angeles has been confirmed, National Park Service scientists say. After a remote-controlled camera in the 4,300-acre park photographed a big cat in February, Sikich and his crew captured the mountain lion they call "P-22", the "P" meaning "puma," in a humane trap. After installing radio signal technology and a GPS tracking device on him, he was released, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. "We've never had any definitive proof of a mountain lion living in Griffith Park," Park Service biologist Jeff Sikich said. "We believe this is pretty significant. It's surrounded by such intense urbanization." The reclusive mountain lion is unlikely to pose a danger and the real mystery, he said, is how the animal entered the park. In a 20-mile trip from the Santa Monica Mountains, it had to cross concrete, back yards, commuter traffic, and culverts, roads and bridges, the newspaper said. Sikich is trying to catch P-22 a second time because the GPS device has failed. It's not an easy task, he said, because pumas are solitary creatures that avoid humans.