Reading about mountain lions in California over most of my lifetime has shown that the statewide population of lions was never less than about 5,000 lions, even back in the 1960's, when there was still a decades-long $50 bounty on them. A few rugged souls even made their livings back then as lion hunters.
There is a lot of wilderness and otherwise very rugged and remote country in California. There have always been, and always will be plenty of lions.
The population may now be as high as 15,000. Under the current CA law, when Fish & Game recovers the body of a lion, they have to pay to keep it frozen. When they get enough to justify the expense, they have to rent a refrigerated truck and deliver the cats to a lab in Sacramento.
There autopsies are performed and the stomach contents are cataloged, looking for fluffies or other domestic animal remains. This is supposed to justify, or not, the number of depredation permits that are issued.
Talk about a waste of taxpayer money, in a state that is broke. Most of the smart and reasonable game wardens prefer that they not even hear about a dead mountain lion or it's circumstances.
I am told that one ranch eliminated three lions in the past year, one within fifty feet of the ranch house containing young children. I doubt that any of those three show up in the game department records. SSS is the recommended procedure for problem lions.
The same environmental idiots protecting the mountain lions now want to see the wolf brought back to California. Good grief.
