California’s mountain lion population now protected by state’s Endangered Species Act | California
More than 1,400 mountain lions across California are now protected under the state’s Endangered Species Act, the state’s Fish and Game Commission announced Thursday.
The commission voted unanimously to list six groups of mountain lions in the Central Coast and Southern California under the California Endangered Species Act, meaning the agency has determined they are likely to become extinct without intervention. Affected species can be found from the Bay Area to the Mexican border.
“This is a major milestone for a California icon,” Tiffany Yap, scientific director of urban wilderness at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
“Mountain lions are a marvel, but too many mountain lions in the Golden State struggle in the diminished and fractured wild places where they live. This state is not prepared to stand by and watch our precious wildlife disappear forever. I celebrate this vote as a new chapter for mountain lions and have so much hope for their future.”
The new protections give a legal mandate to state agencies to protect the big cats, and also require proposed developments in lion habitats to identify and minimize potential harm to the population, with additional precautions including more wildlife crossings, road improvements and strong restrictions on rat poison.
Several measures are already planned to help the population in difficulty, including a massive wildlife crossing on Highway 101.
These particular groups of mountain lions are particularly vulnerable because of increasing isolation exacerbated by habitat loss, conservationists said. They also face life-threatening risks in their daily travels, such as car collisions, rat poison and diseases.
Before the vote, opponents of the endangered species designation, including the California Farm Bureau, the California Cattlemen’s Association and the California Deer Association, expressed concerns about the safety risks lions pose to people and livestock.
Valerie Termini, acting director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, acknowledged that mountain lions are polarizing animals, but that protecting them was the right decision.
She said lions “evoke strong and varied perceptions” about how they should be managed, but that “the segment of the population we are talking about today is clearly exposed to distinct threats.”
