YUMA, Ariz. (AP) -- Arizona Game and Fish Department authorities have killed a mountain lion in the Tank Mountains northeast of Yuma, the second big cat to be removed in the area in less than a year for killing desert bighorn sheep.

The mountain lion, killed Saturday, had killed four desert bighorn sheep and five mule deer since being captured and collared by the department in October, Game and Fish spokesman Gary Hovatter said Thursday.

"This is not a plan about mountain lion eradication," Hovatter said. "It's a plan about bighorn sheep restoration."

The sheep population in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding area was found to be at historic low numbers during the 2006 population survey.

Hovatter said the Kofa herd was once one of the most robust in the nation and has been a critically important source of transplant sheep for restoring the species to Arizona and other southwestern U.S. mountain ranges for more than 50 years.

Transplants have been suspended until herd populations can be restored.

In June, the first lion was killed under the department's plan to protect the species. Officials said when it was killed, it was found guarding a cache of two freshly killed desert bighorn sheep and a mule deer.

Daniel Patterson, Southwest director and ecologist for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, called the mountain lion killings unethical.

"We knew it was only a matter of time before they took another one," Patterson said. "Unless it stops, the state is very likely to kill all of them."

Hovatter said the lions that have been killed were part of a small group of four to five big cats that have been spending time on the refuge for years. One of the lions is female.

Under Game and Fish's management plan, a lion can be removed if it takes more than two sheep in six months.

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Information from: The Sun, http://www.yumasun.com

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