Five weeks ago, Wendell Phillips discovered that a mountain lion had killed two female alpacas that were living in a pen on his property, located in Malibu in the Santa Monica Mountains. Last Monday, March 14, Phillips found three of his male alpacas dead, also killed by a mountain lion.
“I’m down to three [alpacas] from eight,” Phillips said. He explained that alpacas range from about 160 to 180 pounds, and that his are housed in a pen that is about six-feet-tall.
Phillips lives with his wife on her family’s Malibu property with her 90-year-old mother who has lived there for 60 years.
“We’ve had animals on the property for almost 60 years,” Phillips said. Up until the recent incidents, the family has had no problem with mountain lions.
“Although we do not have specific numbers, based on the incidents that we hear about and the animals that we are tracking, there has been an increase of mountain lions preying on domestic animals in the Santa Monica Mountains in the last year,” Seth Riley, a biologist who works for the National Park Service (NPS), explained in an email to The Malibu Times. Riley said that NPS is unsure what is causing the increase in incidents, but that it may have to do with a significant increase in the keeping of domestic animals, specifically goats.
NPS is currently tracking six adult mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, as well as some in other areas, including P22 who lives near Griffith Park. P22 made headlines on Thursday, March 10, when he was suspected to have killed a koala bear living in the L.A. Zoo.
“Sooner or later — I hate to predict this and I hope to be wrong — [one] lion or another lion is going to take a kid or a small adult, and people are going to be like, ‘Why didn’t we do something sooner?’” Phillips said.
Andrew Hughan, a public information officer with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, explained that “if it can be proved that the [mountain] lion attacked or killed a person, then the department would make every effort to find and destroy the offending animal.”
“Since 1986, there have been 15 verified attacks on people in California,” Hughan told The Malibu Times in an email. “Six were fatal. All of the attacks were in State Parks, wildlife preserves or open spaces.”
“Across the 14 years and 47 mountain lions that we have studied in the region, none of them have ever behaved aggressively towards people,” Riley explained. “Although mountain lion attacks on people have occurred in other parts of the west, they are incredibly rare and anomalous events.”
If a person believes that a mountain lion has killed livestock or caused other property damage, there are steps that they can take.
“If a pet or livestock is killed and a homeowner suspects a mountain lion may be involved, they should contact professionals who can determine whether or not it was a mountain lion,” Riley explained. “Specifically, they should contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who will also inform them of their options.”
“Under State law, if it can be proven by a warden or biologist that a lion killed livestock or caused other property damage, the homeowner can request a depredation permit to destroy the animal,” Hughan wrote. “An important point is that if they ask for a permit, the department shall issue the permit, we have no latitude or leeway on this.”
Mountain lions are fully protected by legislation in California, and the legal consequences for a person who attempts to hunt or harass a mountain lion are “severe,” according to Hughan.
“It’s a misdemeanor, possible jail, $10,000 in fines, and loss of all hunting equipment and hunting privileges,” Hughan explained.
Phillips said he “doesn’t intend to just sit by and have the mountain lion eat more of my animals,” but that he intends to comply with all of the laws in California.
In order to keep domesticated animals safe, NPS biologist Jeff Sikich recommended keeping animals in a full enclosure from dusk to dawn.
“It needs to have a roof and no openings that an animal can get through,” Sikich described. “If a full enclosure can not be built, then a proper fencing may keep lions out, but the fencing must be well-constructed and at least 12-feet high.”
“If the remaining alpacas are not protected, then absolutely they are vulnerable, to that mountain lion, or to another one,” Riley explained. “Any mountain lion that comes across vulnerable prey — and domestic animals that are penned in are especially vulnerable — will take advantage of it.”
