Mountain lions are wildly overpopulated in California, and herbivory has taken a serious hit as a result. Hunting was much more humane than waiting for them to habituate to people then for both to suffer the consequences.
Maybe in Northern or Central California - but not in southern California, the mountain lion population has decreased.
“Over the last several decades, the Santa Monica Mountains’s mountain lion population has declined and become genetically isolated, primarily due to the Ventura Freeway that prevents them from moving between the mountains and the Simi Hills to the north. Since 2002, at least a dozen mountain lions have been killed on the freeway. GPS tracking collars show that most approach the freewa.y then turn back.”
— Wikipedia