A Simi Valley man has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to fatally shooting a protected mountain lion in the mountains northwest of Los Angeles.

Alfredo Gonzalez, 60, must also complete at least 240 hours of community service at an animal shelter and pay an undisclosed amount of restitution, according to the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife was alerted that the male mountain lion, known as P-38, may have been killed after a “mortality signal” on his tracking collar went off July 2.

An investigation determined that P-38 died from a gunshot wound to the head. In California, it is illegal to shoot a mountain lion without a state permit.


Gonzalez also pleaded guilty to vandalizing the cougar’s tracking collar.

P-38 was born in 2012 and mostly roamed the Santa Susana Mountains. He had been studied by National Park Service biologists since 2015 and was thought to have fathered four litters of cubs.