Surprise mountain lion kitten discovered in Santa Monica Mountains

Surprise! Researchers tracking the well-known mountain lion P-23 in the Santa Monica Mountains recently discovered the cat was caring for a kitten that was previously undetected.

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area posted video of the 6-month-old kitten, which is the offspring of a 3½-year-old P-23.

P-23's first litter of two kittens was eaten by a male lion. Her next litter was killed and eaten by another unknown animal.

At the time, biologists thought P-23 had only one kitten but found remains of two.

A biologist then noticed movements tracked by P-23's GPS collar suggesting she was caring for another so he set up a so-called camera trap where the lion had left a deer kill, and the kitten was recorded.

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