Plan Would Allow Killing of 210 Cougars

SACRAMENTO —  The California Fish and Game Department on Tuesday proposed the killing of as many as 210 mountain lions statewide in the first legal sport hunting of the animals in 15 years. Two children were mauled last year by lions in an Orange County wilderness park.

The plan, subject to approval by the Fish and Game Commission, would allow as many as 20 lions to be killed in an area stretching from Los Angeles County south to the Mexican border. The state estimates that the region is home to at least 400 of the big cats, also known as cougars.

The proposed hunting season, opposed by many environmentalists, would begin on the second Saturday in October and continue for 79 days.

Banned Since 1972

If approved, the plan would end a ban on mountain lion hunting that began with a moratorium imposed by the Legislature from 1972 through 1985. Although that moratorium expired in 1986, the ban on hunting cougars has continued while the Fish and Game Commission studied the lion population and considered possible new regulations. California is the only Western state that prohibits the hunting of mountain lions.

For the last year, several groups have pressured the commission to lift its ban. Among them are hunters who want to shoot the lions for sport, deer hunters who believe the lions are a danger to several California herds, and ranchers upset at losing livestock to the predators.

“I have no problem with what the department has proposed,” said Bob McKay, president of the California Sportsman’s Lobby, a pro-hunting group. “I’m very, very pleased. They’ve done their homework and done what they were asked to do by the commission a year ago.”

Preservation groups, meanwhile, quickly attacked the plan as unnecessary and exploitative. They said the state’s estimate that there are at least 5,100 lions in California is too high.

“The purpose behind this is simply to kill 210 lions and allow somebody the opportunity to do that,” said Bill Yeates, state representative for the Mountain Lion Coalition. “What we’re doing is we’re going to send out a pack of hounds and we’re going to chase this animal until it’s exhausted and then we’re going to shoot it at point-blank range. To me, it’s just exploitation.”

Richard Spotts, a lobbyist for the Defenders of Wildlife, said his group will oppose the plan when it comes before the Fish and Game Commission at a hearing Friday in Long Beach.

Anticipated Reaction

“We believe that an overwhelming majority of Californians would find lion trophy-hunting repugnant once they learned how it is conducted,” Spotts said. “This is sport hunting for fun. This is not hunting to protect livestock or people.”

State officials who unveiled the plan here said they believe the killing of 210 lions a year would have little or no effect on the statewide cougar population. A Fish and Game official said state studies have shown that the lion population, through natural processes, tends to quickly replace those lions that are killed or captured.

Under the plan, licensed hunters would pay $5 to enter a lottery for one of the 210 mountain lion permits, or tags, and an additional $75 to purchase the tag once their name is drawn in the lottery. Mansfield said he expects that the state would receive at least 2,500 applications for the 210 tags.

No lions less than a year old and no females accompanied by cubs could be hunted, according to the proposal.