Reward for Info Increases in Mountain Lion Killing

The reward amount for information leading to the arrests of in the Santa Monica Mountains has been raised to $11,700, according to the California Department of Fish and Game.

Of the total reward, the city of Calabasas is contributing $5,000, matching the initial reward offered by Fish and Game and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, said city spokesman Michael Hafken.

The Ventura County-based Animal Rescue Team Inc. pledged an additional $1,500 and San Diego’s Mountain Lion Foundation donated $200.

The 7-year-old male lion, known to the National Park Service as P-15, was collared with a GPS device so he could be monitored by NPS biologists. His collar stopped sending signals in August and its body was found on Sept. 11.

Fish and Game investigators concluded that the wild animal was killed by poachers.

The lion was the last collared male in the Santa Monica Mountains.

"Our community is stunned that someone would intentionally kill one of our rare mountain lions,” said Calabasas Mayor Pro Tem Mary Sue Maurer in a statement from the Department of Fish and Game. “We are determined to do everything we can to bring the perpetrator to justice.”