text: Los Angeles' most famous cougar has 'left the building' after taking up residence in an unsuspecting family's crawl space. The mountain lion, known as P-22, left the Los Feliz home in the early hours of Tuesday, having created quite the media circus in the affluent Hollywood suburb. His departure was announced on Twitter by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which tweeted 'the cougar has left the building' at 9.28am. New home: The lion - known as P-22 - was found by workers in the crawl space at midday on Monday . Courageous: On Tuesday morning, after the cougar's signal moved away from the area, a couple of brave animal welfare officers decided to conduct a thorough search of the area under the Los Feliz home . Gone: Luckily for them, P-22 had moved away overnight, and was moving back towards the park . 'Likes': The incident has made P-22 even more famous, with another 1,400 people liking his Facebook page . The lion usually lives in nearby Griffith Park, but on Monday was discovered in the crawl space of Jason and Paula Archinac's home by an unsuspecting alarm technician. 'He came out white as a ghost,' Animal Service's Armando Navarrete told KTLA. The house was soon surrounded by a host of media outlets - including a circling helicopter - while a live stream meant Los Angeles' residents could keep an eye on animal services' attempts to move the lion. But P-22 was not prepared to be moved, despite being poked gently with a long prod — which only led to welfare officers temporarily losing the pricey GoPro camera they'd attached to the end of it that fell off. Welfare officers then attempted to fire a tennis ball cannon into the crawl space with hopes that at least the noise and commotion would scare him out, a tactic that often works with coyotes. Next, they fired small bean bags, the same kind police sometimes use for human crowd control, toward the cat. Resident: The beautiful animal may have been living in the crawlspace for some time before being discovered . Rescue: Attempts to get the lion to move out - including firing tennis balls - were unsuccessful . None of it worked, so they asked everyone to clear the area, in the hope that P-22 might move on his own accord. And the tactic worked: the mountain lion, who crossed two freeways when he travelled from the Santa Monica Mountains to the park more than three years ago, was gone when they returned in the morning. But even though the animal's tracking device - fitted some years ago - was no longer sounding in the area, it was decided it was still best to double check the area was cougar-free. So a couple of brave souls entered the crawl space just to make sure. Fame: P-22 is best-known for being pictured in front of the Hollywood sign in 2013 . Hiding: It is thought the lion crossed two freeways to get to his home in Griffin Park, but it is not known how long he has been living in the crawl space in the Los Feliz hills . Luckily for them, P-22 was heading home - and the most recent tweets reveal he was heading deeper into Griffith Park. '#LosFeliz adventure is (literally) behind him,' California's wildlife department tweeted. It isn't the first time P-22 has been the centre of attention, however. After he arrived in the 4,000 acre park, National Geographic photographer Steve Winter set about trying to capture his picture - finally managing to photograph him walking in front of the Hollywood sign in 2013, making P-22 an overnight celebrity. Indeed, the big cat - who survived mange and a meal of rat poison to become apparently healthy again just last year - even has a Facebook page in his honour, which has got more than 1,400 more 'likes' since his recent appearance on TV. Beanbags: The animal rescue workers have even resorted to using beanbags to move the lion . Live feed: The incident has created quite a furore - with people watching it unfold live on television (pictured)
target: P-22 left his new den underneath a house in Los Feliz overnight Tuesday .
  Has now headed back to Griffith Park, his home of more than three years .
  Rose to fame after a picture of him in front of the Hollywood sign published .
  But most recent escapade has won the mountain lion a legion of new fans .