Slain Lion Was 1 Of 2 Last Known Males In Santa Monica Mountains

MALIBU, CA — A mountain lion killed by a rancher last month was one of only two known males left in the Santa Monica Mountains, and a leading conservationist said Tuesday that he would personally pay to keep the region's critical last male cat alive.

The rancher had apparently endured more than a dozen livestock attacks before acquiring a permit to kill the lion known as P-56, a young male of breeding aged being tracked by researchers. Conservationists such as Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, were devastated when the National Park Service announced the kill Monday. The death of P-56 brings to a head the longstanding tension between residents who see mountain lions as a threat and wildlife advocates trying to save the endangered animals. According to researchers, LA's mountain lions may be heading for extinction within 50 years.

That's why The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy's Edmiston says he's willing to take matters into his own hands, circumventing the bureaucratic processes to prevent the death of the last remaining male mountain lion in the area.

"I've worked for 40 years. To see one of the last two breathing mountain lion males shot for 12 sheep is so egregious," he said. "I will spend my own personal money so that doesn't happen again."

Edmiston said he fears what will happen if P-63 gets hungry near an area where livestock roam. P-63 is now the last known male left in the region.

If that happens, Edmiston is asking that any affected individual who loses an animal to a lion to contact him directly for monetary reimbursement, rather than going to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife for a depredation permit that would allow a mountain lion to be killed. He is also asking the conservancy's board to ask the state Legislature to appropriately amend the law and establish an indemnity fund.

"My personal email is jtedmiston@gmail.com. Email me," he said, according to The Times.

Mountain lion hunting has been banned in California since 1990, and the state considers the animals "highly protected mammals," a Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area news release said. However, a mountain lion may still be killed after a property owner requests a depredation permit if the lion harms pets or livestock.

P-56, the young mountain lion monitored by the National Park Service since 2017, was killed last month near Camarillo, the first lion to be killed in the Santa Monica Mountains under a California law that allows a landowner to take lethal action against a big cat that has killed or injured livestock or pets if other deterrents have failed, it was announced Monday. The young mountain lion was living south of the 101 Freeway in the western area of the Santa Monica Mountains.

It was also the first time a collared mountain lion in the area was killed under the state's "depredation" law, which allows residents to obtain a permit to kill an endangered animal.

Such permits are rarely obtained in the region because the local mountain lion population is endangered and efforts to kill the animals have been met with widespread community opposition. In this case, authorities have not released the identity of the permit holder, who killed a young male lion known to breed in the region.

P-56, a 5-year-old radio-collared mountain lion that was living in the western Santa Monica Mountains south of the 101 Freeway, was killed after the property owner tried multiple nonlethal measures, according to a Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area news release. The property owner lost 12 sheep and lamb in the process, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

The CDFW implemented a "three-strike" policy in December 2017 that adds protection to mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains and Santa Ana Mountains, where there is another isolated and at-risk population, the news release said. In these areas, if a mountain lion has killed or injured livestock or pets, the property owner must first use nonlethal means to deter the lion before a permit for lethal means is issued.

The landowner in this incident tried various nonlethal measures including bringing in as many livestock as possible and penning any remaining livestock close to the barn and houses, as well as using trained guard dogs, hot-wire fencing, motion-activated lights and auditory (radio) hazing, according to CDFW officials who investigate so-called depredation incidents. Over two years, the property owner had nine depredation incidents, resulting in the death of 12 animals.

Mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains have been a part of an almost 18-year-long National Park Service study that looks at "how the small population is faring in a highly fragmented region," the news release said.

"The loss of a breeding male is a concern for the study, especially when the population is already very small," said Jeff Sikich, the lead field biologist for the project. "There are always animals out there that are not being tracked. Currently, there is only one adult male in the Santa Monica Mountains that we are tracking, and that is P-63."

P-56 was first caught and collared with a GPS tracking collar in April 2017, a few days after young male P-55 was captured in the same spot. Officials suspect they are brothers; P-56 was also the suspected father of P-70, P-71, P-72 and P-73, based on time that he spent traveling with female lion P-19.

A rancher in 2016 obtained a permit to hunt a mountain lion after it killed 10 of her alpaca, but after facing backlash she decided not to kill the animal. Instead, she she said she sought the permit to raise awareness about the threats to local pets and livestock posed by the native pumas.

For recommendations regarding mountain lions, people can visit the CDFW website. The recommendations include confining livestock in a full enclosure at night, using trained guard dogs and keeping domestic pets indoors at night.

Related:

• Mountain Lion Killed By Property Owner In Santa Monica Mountains
• Malibu Rancher Who Obtained Permit to Shoot Mountain Lion Doesn't Want It Killed
• Blue-Eyed Mountain Lion Litter Found In Santa Monica Mountains

City News Service contributed to this post