Poachers Killed & Mutilated Mountain Lion in Santa Monica Mountains

P-15 on remote camera. Image courtesy of NPS.

California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is investigating the suspicious death of one of the last remaining male mountain lions in an important National Park Service (NPS) wildlife study. The 7-year-old animal, dubbed P-15, was discovered on September 11. Officials say he did not die of natural causes.

Each lion in the research study wears a GPS radio locator collar, and P-15's collar stopped transmitting on August 25. Shortly after this breach in communication, DFG and NPS received a call of a dead mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains. The tracking collar had been removed, and according to LA Times, the animal's body had been mutilated. State fish and game wardens believe the culprits are poachers. P-15 was identified by the UCLA Conservation Genetics Research Center.

P-15 was first captured in Point Mugu State Park in November 2009 and has roamed most of the Santa Monica Mountains as his home range over the two year period. NPS believes that P-15 was one of at least seven other mountain lions residing in the range that are involved in the study.

"This is a significant blow to the mountain lion research study," said NPS wildlife ecologist Seth Riley in a NPS release. "There are not a lot of mountain lions left in the Santa Monica Mountains, and each one plays an important role in the overall local survival of the mountain lion population," he added.

The study focuses on mountain lion movement and also incorporates a genetics study to discover indications of possible inbreeding. P-15's death comes on the heels of another mountain lion death, P-18, who was killed while trying to cross the 405 on August 30.

DFG and NPS ask anyone with information related to the death of P-15 to call the DFG Cal Tip Hotline at 1-800-334-2258.

"We're going to have to get lucky on this. There's virtually no forensic evidence," said Andrew Hughan, a DFG spokesman.