Mountain Lions Granted Temporary Endangered Status

MALIBU — The California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously last week to grant temporary endangered species status to the local mountain lion population.

The vote advances the petition to list six populations of mountain lions, including some in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana mountains, with full endangered species status under the California Endangered Species Act. Permanent protection could go into effect by 2022, following public hearings and committee review.

“A new day is on the horizon for these apex predators and I applaud the Fish and Game Commission for extending these critical protections,” Malibu State Senator and Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Chair Henry Stern said in an emailed statement. “But we can only truly prevent extinction on our watch if this momentum can finally fuel a comprehensive solution, where wildlife overpasses don our risky freeways and deadly rodenticides are a thing of the past. The campaign to save the California mountain lion continues, stronger than ever before.”

In February, Stern urged the commission to list mountain lions as an endangered species following the shooting of one of two known male lions in the Santa Monica Mountains. Even though the Camarillo rancher who shot P-56, as the lion is known, obtained a state permit after the mountain lion killed several of his sheep, the shooting caused a public outcry.

Stern has also sponsored a bill that would heavily restrict the use of rodenticide rat poisons that are a leading cause of death for mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes.