Richard Collins: The perfect Christmas present for the wildlife enthusiast

P-22, a six-year-old male mountain-lion living in Southern California, became a minor celebrity when he was photographed walking past an American cultural icon; the famous Hollywood sign, with its 15m high lettering, in the Santa Monica Mountains. He has also sheltered under a house and broken into Los Angeles Zoo where he may have dismembered a koala, writes Richard Collins. 

‘P-22’ is, of course, the code on this cat’s GPS collar, the information from which enabled a map of his movements to be drawn.

It, and a brief account of his adventures, appears in a book just published. Where Animals Go, tracking wildlife with technology in 50 maps and graphics, is the work of geographer James Cheshire and designer Oliver Uberti, both of National Geographic.