By Jorge Casuso

May 23, 2012 -- It is a lush plot in the midst of a world of concrete and asphalt, and its palms and thick vegetation offered the final refuge for the three-year-old male mountain lion that had strayed far from its natural habitat in the Santa Monica Mountains.

On Tuesday morning, shortly after 6 a.m. in the courtyard of a building at 1227 Second Street, "police were forced to use lethal force to prevent that animal from escaping the courtyard and endangering the public," according to the department.

"Attempts to tranquilize the mountain lion, combined with the use of water hoses and 'less than lethal' pepper ball rounds failed to subdue the animal," wrote Lt. Robert Almada. "The mountain lion made several attempts to escape the courtyard and enter the public area."

The killing of the 60 to 80 pound lion in the hours before Downtown Santa Monica opened for business has triggered a local debate and brought attention to the encroachment of development on the area's natural habitat, where some ten mountain lions are thought to live in the wild.

"I've never heard of anything like this happening," said former mayor Paul Rosenstein, referring to the lion's foray into the city of 90,000 where Rosenstein has lived for 35 years. "Never, never ever. We've had raccoon's and possums, that's common."

Rosenstein noted, however, that last year Santa Monica Police issued a bulletin after at least 14 coyote sightings were reported, and the deaths of two family pets were attributed to coyote attacks. ("Urban Coyotes on the Prowl in Santa Monica," October 19, 2011)

The sightings of coyotes -- which ranged throughout the city -- were attributed to Santa Monica's proximity to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the country’s largest (153,000 acres) urban national park.

Although still a rare occurrence, mountain lions -- especially males that are known to roam far to establish their territory and find females -- seem to be wandering into urban areas, experts said.

"We wonder if it's because these animals are closed in by development and freeways," Seth Riley, an ecologist for the National Park Service, told the Los Angeles Daily News.

"It seems like a number of these young males are trying to get somewhere else to establish their own range, and stay out of the way of other older males," she said.

The mountain lion killed in Santa Monica will be studied to determine if it strayed from the neighboring mountains.

The animal's killing comes three months after an adult male mountain lion was found in Griffith Park. Experts, who are tracking the movements of the 7 to 8-foot-long cat, believed it may have crossed both the San Diego (405) and Ventura (101) freeways to get to the park.

The lion, dubbed Puma 22, does not seem to be approaching developed areas, experts said.

Ecologist Daniel Cooper, who is working on the project, said the lions are not out to harm humans.

"They're not around to attack people," Cooper told the Daily News. "They want to keep to themselves. It's not like they are marauders."

Tuesday's shooting in Santa Monica has divided residents, with some justifying the action by police, who were joined at the scene by Santa Monica Animal Control, California Department of Fish & Game and the Santa Monica Fire Department.

Others argue that it was an unnecessary killing of an animal that should have been captured and returned to the wild.

“What was the rush?” Bill Dyer, a regional director for In Defense of Animals, told the LA Times. "They should have taken their time. This land belongs to the animals, too. This is not just our land.”