The California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously Thursday to give some of the state's mountain lions temporary protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The decision triggers a year-long status review to determine if several hundred mountain lions in Southern California and the Central Coast should be protected as endangered or threatened.
During that time, the cougars get the same protections as animals and plants already listed. That means development projects from housing to roads may be required to take steps to lessen any impacts to the species. In June 2019, the Mountain Lion Foundation and Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the state to consider protecting the cougars, which include those living in the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
In February, the Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended it move forward to a status review.
The petition sought protection for six populations of mountain lions in the Santa Monica, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. A listing "would jeopardize ranchers ability to protect their livestock," said Sunshine Saldivar, counsel for the California Farm Bureau Federation.
That, in turn, she said, would threaten the viability of ranching.
While hunting mountain lions is illegal in the state, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may issue lethal depredation permits when a cougar kills or injures domestic animals or is a threat to public safety.
Depredation permits also can be issued for nonlethal means of keeping mountain lions from returning to a property.
It's not clear how, or if, the candidate status would impact depredation permits. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has said its staff would work through any issues...
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