Orange County mountain lion Uno is killed by a car. Her insouciance brought her fame

Uno, a female mountain lion often seen patrolling the mountains in Orange County, died last week after being struck by a vehicle near Santiago Canyon Road.

The puma “was somewhat famous for her seeming laissez-faire demeanor around people at times — often paying little attention to hikers or others she might encounter,” said the UC Davis California Mountain Lion Project.

The school, which reported her death Friday, had been studying Uno since 2021.

“She was crossing Santiago Canyon Road, a highway in Orange County that she has crossed successfully many times, but she failed to get across safely on this occasion,” the Mountain Lion Project said on Instagram.

“Valiant efforts to save her life were undertaken…but she succumbed to massive head and chest injuries before significant treatment could be started.”

The cougar, identified by the study as F312, had been tagged by researchers in 2021 when she was about 2 years old.

In the ensuing years, she was captured many times by wildlife cameras and photographers, who dubbed her “Uno” because of an injury she had suffered to one eye.

Last summer, wildlife photographer Mark Girardeau captured footage of Uno as she ambled past him on a hiking trail, coming within a few feet of Girardeau.

In the video, Uno can be seen peeking over the crest of a hill at Girardeau before walking down the hill.

“Oh s—, she’s coming toward me,” Girardeau says in the video.

The lion walks down the hill, seemingly nonchalant, then breaks into a jog while passing Girardeau.

During her time under observation, Uno probably denned more than once; she produced at least one litter, with four kittens.

But the kittens did not survive long enough to leave their mother, the Mountain Lion Project said. Two kittens were killed by cars, one was killed by disease, and one “simply disappeared.”

Uno is just the latest mountain lion to be killed on Southern California roadways.

Vehicles pose a significant threat to the big cats. Between 2015 and 2022, 535 mountain lions were killed on California highways, according to a UC Davis study.

“Fencing projects that our team has helped design in the area have dramatically reduced mountain lion and other wildlife deaths on the roads,” the Mountain Lion Project said, “but as this shows us these improvements are needed in many more places.”