MALIBU, CA — A property owner has killed a mountain lion being tracked by researchers in the Santa Monica Mountains, the National Park Service announced Monday. It was 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 that repeatedly preys on pets or livestock.

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 in the Camarillo area after a 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.

Mountain lion hunting has been banned in California since 1990, and the state considers the animals "highly protected mammals," the 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. 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.