A mountain lion photo that reshaped Los Angeles' urban wildlife debate

KUALA LUMPUR, 28 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

Photographer Steve Winter captured a night‑time image of mountain lion P‑22 walking beneath the Hollywood sign after more than a year of effort, a picture that became a worldwide icon and helped galvanise support for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over U.S. Route 101 in Los Angeles.

Winter spent more than a year trying to obtain the shot; remote cameras were stolen and equipment failed before he finally captured P‑22 at night, his tracking collar visible around his neck. National Park Service biologist Jeff Sikich thought the idea was “crazy” because, as he knew, there were no mountain lions in Griffith Park. The image made P‑22 famous and turned the cat into a global emblem of urban wildlife conflict.

The picture appears in Big Cats, a new book by Winter and journalist Sharon Guynup, who also co‑authored the story of Thailand’s Tiger Temple – a tourist attraction where visitors could pose with captive tigers that was later raided and closed after a year‑long investigation documented links to illegal wildlife trafficking.

In the Himalayas, Winter spent months photographing snow leopards while working with researchers and local communities; he helped launch a program that offered free livestock vaccinations in exchange for a pledge not to kill snow leopards, a scheme that the community took over after three years.

The story was discussed on the Mongabay Newscast with host Mike DiGirolamo, highlighting Winter’s approach of combining photojournalism with reporting on the people and circumstances shaping big‑cat survival. The Los Angeles wildlife crossing remains a key element of the city’s plan to mitigate habitat fragmentation caused by the freeway, and the P‑22 image continues to be used in outreach and fundraising efforts, the article notes.