A mountain lion uncovered useless in Southern California before this 12 months was the initial huge cat in a two-decade Nationwide Park Service research to die of issues from mange, a highly contagious pores and skin disease brought on by a mite parasite, officers claimed.

The system of the 5-calendar year-previous female cougar dubbed P-65 was uncovered near a stream in the central Santa Monica Mountains in March, the park support said in a statement Monday.

P-65 endured from a serious case of notoedric mange, evidenced by hair decline and pores and skin encrustation, specifically on her facial area and head, the statement claimed.

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Adult woman mountain lion dubbed as P-65 was located useless in Southern California previously this calendar year thanks to mange, a very contagious pores and skin sickness prompted by mite parasite.  (Countrywide Park Assistance via WHD)

Former cases of mange among mountain lions outfitted with monitoring collars were being treated with a topical anti-parasitic medicine, reported Jeff Sikich, a wildlife biologist with the park service.

"All of these animals recovered from their mange sickness as most effective as we could explain to from remote digicam pictures or later assessment. Having said that, in P-65′s circumstance, we did not know about her illness until finally soon after she had died," Sikich explained in the assertion.

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A necropsy decided that P—65 experienced also been exposed to five unique anticoagulant rodenticides, or rat poisons. Cougars generally consume squirrels or other smaller animals that experienced ingested the poisons, scientists have reported.

P-65 was outfitted with a radio monitoring collar in March 2018 by biologists who are studying how the big cats stay in habitat fragmented by city sprawl, limitations that restrict genetic diversity and with hazards ranging from poisons to streets and freeways.