Gov. Brown Signs Bill Adding Non-Lethal Options When Mountain Lions Wander Near Homes

Ten months after two half-starved mountain lion cubs that had wandered into a neighborhood were killed, sparking an outcry of support for changing the way wildlife officials handle such incidents, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that does just that.

Gov. Brown signed SB 132, a bill from State Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, that authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to partner with wildlife groups and nonprofits when responding to reports of mountain lions near residences that do not involve an imminent threat to human life.

Hill introduced the legislation after two mountain lion cubs were fatally shot on Nov. 30, 2012, in a Half Moon Bay neighborhood. State game wardens and San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies were unable to shoo the cubs from the neighborhood to nearby Burleigh Murray Ranch State Park, and regulations did not permit the officers to pursue other options.

Department of Fish and Wildlife officials initially said the female siblings weighed 25 to 30 pounds. But necropsies showed they were only about 4 months old, weighed 13 to 14 pounds and were starving and unlikely to survive in the wild without their mother.

SB 132 requires that nonlethal procedures be used when DFW responds to a mountain lion that has not been designated as an imminent threat to public health or safety, meaning the mountain lion has not exhibited aggressive behaviors toward responders.

Under the mountain lion bill, “nonlethal options” that may be considered include capturing, pursuing, anesthetizing, marking, transporting, hazing, relocating, providing veterinary care to and rehabilitating the cats.

Hill said the legislation will allow the DFW to partner with wildlife rescue and rehabilitation groups, veterinarians, zoos, colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations throughout the state that have the capability and experience to assist with mountain lion incidents.

Do you support this new law? Should wildlife officials have non-lethal options at their disposal when mountain lions wander into neighborhoods? Tell us in the Comments below.