Bill to Protect Mountain Lions

The fur has been flying since the moratorium, enacted in 1972, that provided protection for the California mountain lion expired in 1986.

The California Department of Fish and Game took advantage of the opportunity and has announced a plan to reopen the hunting season of this persecuted wild creature.

The confrontation is continuing between the animal activists and the trophy hunters, who have eliminated the wolves, jaguars and grizzly bears in California and are responsible for the demise of the California condor. Now they are determined to rid the California wilderness of the last remaining major predator, the cougar.

The mountain lion had been decimated by bounty hunters and their cohorts, the trophy hunters, to a mere 600 by 1972, necessitating a moratorium on hunting in order to save the species. Unlike other game animals, the cougar is not hunted for fur and it is not being used for food. The reason that the trophy hunters are itching to snuff out the life of the big cat is to satisfy their desire to kill for “fun and/or recreation,” and because of their beauty to use them as decorations on their living room walls.

Another reason for this bloody sport is that the innate, primitive instinct of the Neanderthal man is still inherent in the computer-age man, wanting to eliminate his fellow predator, competing for the same quarry. We called American Indians “savages,” but they only took what they needed in order to survive and never killed for sport. We boast about being civilized. Is it civilized to chase a panicked wild creature with a pack of hounds up a tree and then shoot the helpless animal? I would call this barbaric.

The only solution to restrain those uncaring individuals from continuing to lobby for mountain lion hunting tags is to enact state laws that would put an end to the feud. There is a ray of hope now for this persecuted species. AB 860 has been introduced in the California Legislature to provide much-needed protection for the big cat. Unfortunately, such attempts in the past have failed. Two years ago a bill passed after bouncing from one committee to another but died on the governor’s desk.

Let us try again. Only the general public can swing the pendulum in the right direction. We should bombard our legislators in Sacramento to vote for the passage of AB 860 to assure the survival of this predator.

LILA BROOKS

Director

California Wildlife Defenders

Hollywood