Research overview: rodenticide exposure and mange in the Griffith Park puma

During his time in Griffith Park, the Los Angeles puma P-22 developed notoedric mange and was found to have been exposed to anticoagulant rodenticides, mirroring a pattern documented in regional bobcats. This overview surveys the science linking second-generation anticoagulant poisons, which accumulate as predators eat poisoned rodents, to immune dysfunction and severe mange in urban felids. It discusses the veterinary intervention that treated P-22, the broader evidence that rodenticides move through urban food webs to apex and mesopredators, and the policy responses aimed at restricting these compounds. The synthesis uses a single famous animal to illustrate a population-level toxicological threat.