Reward for mountain lion poachers now $11,700

The reward for information leading to the capture of poachers who killed a mountain lion now stands at $11,700.

Shocked by at the brutality of the slaying, the city of Calabasas agreed to match the original $5,000 reward, while the Ventura County-based Animal Rescue Team Inc. pledged $1,500 and San Diego's Mountain Lion Foundation contributed an additional $200, according to information released by the California Department of Fish and Game. The anti-poaching group Californians Turn In Poachers and Polluters, commonly known as the CalTIP Foundation, offered the initial $2,500. This sum was jointly matched by the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust.

Wildlife officials were alerted by a caller to the discovery of the dead lion on Sept. 11. Wardens determined the lion did not die of natural causes and launched an investigation, the Department of Fish and Game said.

Mountain lions are designated as a "specially protected mammal" in California and it is illegal to hunt or trap them, officials said.

Anyone with information related to the lion's death is urged to call the CalTIP hotline at 1-888-334-2258.

-- Ann M. Simmons

Photo: Mountain lion P-15, shown in a photo taken by remote camera, had been tracked for nearly two years by National Park Service scientists. Credit: National Park Service