LOS ANGELES _ California officials said Monday that a mountain lion known as P-45 is strongly suspected of breaking into two ranches in the hills above Malibu over the weekend and killing nearly a dozen alpacas and a goat.
The owner of one ranch where 10 alpacas were killed secured a special permit Monday to shoot and kill the big cat, said Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The so-called depradation permit gives the ranch owner the right to hire a hunter to find the animal and kill it, Hughan said. Typically, hunters use a deer carcass to lure a cougar and shoot it with a rifle.
The 10-day permit allows the hunter to scour the hills within 10 miles of the homeowner's ranch, located near Mulholland Highway and Little Sycamore Canyon Road. There, the lion attacked a herd of alpacas on Saturday night, killing 10 and injuring two others, Hughan said.
"The homeowner did everything she could to protect her wildlife," said Hughan, noting that the animals were kept in a locked area with barbed wire and motion-sensing security lights. "This lion was very determined to get in there."
The second attack occurred Sunday night at a ranch about 2 miles away, where an alpaca and a goat were killed.
P-45 dined on only one of the alpacas, leading wildlife officials to suspect he may return to feed later. The cat wears a radio location transmitter and has been linked to other attacks in the Malibu area.
In late November 2015, ranch managers at Malibu Family Wines discovered that P-45 had attacked one of several llamas in a pen shaded by oak trees at the 1,000-acre ranch. The lion returned a few days later and killed an alpaca.
Owners at the ranch opted not to seek a permit, but Jeff Sikich, a biologist with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area, said he eventually captured the animal. P-45 was released farther into the wild but returned in January 2016 and killed another llama, prompting the ranch to install lion-proof fencing.
Anticipating criticism of the permit to have the lion killed, Hughan called on the public to remember that a woman lost a significant part of her income as well as her pets.
"If your livestock is killed, you have the right to get this permit," Hughan said. "This woman is obviously upset."
Last year, the state issued 265 permits to kill mountain lions that posed a threat to humans or livestock, resulting in 107 of the predators being taken.
Killing a mountain lion without a permit is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $10,000 or both.
Several mountain lions roam the roughly 275 square miles around the Santa Monica Mountains, an area with busy roadways, housing developments and commercial districts.
In March, the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens announced that one of its endangered koalas was apparently killed by a mountain lion known as P-22, who was born in the Santa Monica Mountains and crossed the 405 and 101 freeways to make Griffith Park his home in 2012.
