P-45的日子可能屈指可数了。这只五岁大的美洲狮曾安全穿越车流密集的公路，避免误食致死剂量的毒鼠药，成功从其他美洲狮那里抢夺到了领地。这些困难已经阻碍了其他生活在圣塔莫尼卡山区的美洲狮。但P-45所犯的致命错误在于它做了美洲狮生来就擅长的事：捕食猎物。
Over the weekend, P-45 apparently broke into two *ranches in the hills above Malibu, killing 10 *alpacas at one property and a goat and an alpaca at the other. P-45 was identified as the *culprit by a tracking device he wears as part of a National Park Service study of the local mountain lion population.
在周末，据说P-45闯入马里布上面山上的两处农场，在其中一处杀死了10头羊驼，又在另一处杀死了一只羊和一只羊驼。通过它身上的追踪设备，P-45被确认为是这两起事件的元凶。这个追踪设备是国家公园管理处用来研究当地美洲狮数量的手段之一。
It’s illegal to hunt mountain lions in California thanks to 1990’s Proposition 117, but the initiative included an exception for residents whose livestock is killed by a lion. And on Nov 28, the owner of the 10 dead alpacas requested and received a special “depredation permit” to hire a hunter to kill P-45. The 10-day permit allows the hunter to cover a 10-mile range around the ranch in search of the lion. Hunters often lure the lion with a deer *carcass.
因为有1990年的《117号提案》，在加州猎捕美洲狮是违法的。但这项提案有一个例外事项：当居民的家畜被美洲狮捕杀时，将其猎捕不算违法。11月28日，失去10只羊驼的农场主要求并收到了一项特别的“掠夺许可”，可以雇佣一名猎人去猎杀P-45。为期10天的猎杀许可允许猎人在农场方圆10英里的范围内搜寻美洲狮。猎人通常用死鹿来引诱美洲狮。
The ranch owner is within her legal rights to have the lion killed. But killing P-45 is not the answer, especially when he is one of the few adult male mountain lions in an isolated population that is at risk of extinction.
农场主可以行使其法律权利去猎杀美洲狮。但杀掉P-45并不能解决问题，特别是在它还是这个濒临灭绝的离群物种中为数不多的成年雄性美洲狮的情况下。
Biologists who have been tracking the mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains believe P-45 is one of just two breeding-age male lions in the region. If he is killed under a *depredation permit and the other dies there will be a worrisome gap in breeding.
在圣塔莫尼卡山区追踪美洲狮多年的生物学家们认为，P-45是这一地区仅有的两只处于繁殖年龄的雄性美洲狮之一。如果依据“掠夺许可”将其猎杀，另一只也死了的话，就会造成繁殖断层，这很令人担忧。
Of course, people should be allowed to protect themselves and their children if a mountain lion attacks. But the law that allows the issuance of depredation permits essentially gives the aggrieved party–the livestock owner–the right to decide whether the lion should live or die. There is no obligation on the part of the livestock owner to demonstrate that he or she took appropriate precautions to protect the animals. There is no evaluation by a wildlife official as to whether the lion poses a further threat to humans or animals.
诚然，如果美洲狮攻击人类，人们有权保护自己和孩子。但允许颁发“掠夺许可”的法律，从本质上讲，直接把美洲狮的生杀大权给予了受损害方，即家畜的主人。而他们却没有义务去说明采取了哪些适当的预防措施来保护家畜。并且，关于这只美洲狮是否会对人类和其他动物构成进一步的威胁, 也缺少野生动物方面的官员作出的评估。
Los Angeles residents are lucky to live near wild, open spaces large enough to sustain mountain lions. Surely there is a better way to manage the conflicts that arise when humans and their domestic animals move into areas that have long served as habitat for wildlife.
洛杉矶的居民非常幸运，他们离野外如此之近，开阔的空间大到能让美洲狮也生活其间。当然，当人类带着他们的家畜，搬到长久以来一直属于野生动物栖息地后所产生的冲突，应该有更好的方法去解决。
