A California rancher was given the green light on Monday to hunt down and kill a mountain lion that slaughtered 10 of her pet alpacas over the weekend.

The male mountain lion known as P45 is also suspected in several other attacks in the mountains above Malibu in recent months.

The animal killed the 10 alpacas on Saturday and is suspected of killing a goat and another alpaca on Sunday in the same Santa Monica mountain range.

Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said P45 was "strongly suspected" to be behind the attacks and a permit to shoot the animal was granted to the ranch owner who lost the multiple alpacas.

Residents of the area estimate that more than 50 alpacas have been slaughtered by mountain lions over the past year.

Wendell Phillips, who lives near the rancher who lost her pet alpacas over the weekend spoke of a devastating scene.

"The way mountain lions kill is they clamp off the wind pipe and all the animals were killed that way," he told the local CBS station. "He didn't eat any of them."

Phillips said he had also lost several alpacas to the same animal over the summer and had obtained a permit to kill the cougar.

Although he hunted down P45 and came across the animal, Phillips said he only grazed him with a bullet.

Mountain lions are not considered an endangered species in California, and up to 15 of the animals are believed to be living in the rugged and sparsely-populated mountains above Malibu.

The area where the cougars roam is surrounded by freeways, farmland and urban development.

P45 is believed to be four years old and was outfitted with a radio location transmitter several years ago in order to track him.

Wildlife officials said although it was not unusual for mountain lions to kill alpacas, the latest slaughter was extreme.

"The lion is obviously killing for sport -- not food," Mary-Dee Rickards, who lives on a nearby ranch, told local radio.

"I know everyone who lives up here not only respects but enjoys the beautiful wildlife," she added. "But this has gone beyond a peaceful co-existence with the animals."

Experts say human encounters with mountain lions are rare and the risk of an attack is infinitely small.