P56 was a mountain lion, approximately 4 years old, that was being tracked and studied by the National Park Service for research on mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains. He was one of only two breeding male mountain lions in the area.
He was legally trapped and shot by someone in Ventura County who obtained a depredation permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after the animal killed 12 sheep. The owner of the sheep said several non-lethal methods has been tried, but were unsuccessful.
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They included motion detector lights and leaving talk radio on outside overnight.
The owner of the sheep said the barn on the property was not large enough to accommodate all of the animals so some had to be left in a pen outside. Tony Tucci from CLAW (Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife) and Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz talked about why they believe it makes no sense to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on mountain lion conservation and then allow them to be killed.
Both men are calling for mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains to be listed as endangered which would create greater protections.
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