California has it right as it relates to coexistance with Pumas..................Since the killing of a young "lion" on the streets of Santa Monica earlier this year, Game Officials have evolved their policies further(hunting Pumas has been banned in the state for decades) and made it their goal to utilize non lethal means to extract Pumas from situations where they have wandered into human settlements.....................And the bottom line, is that the Golden State has minimal "bad" human/Puma encounters due to these extra common sense steps employing the philosophy of "live and let live"

Protecting Mountain Lions

mymotherlode.com

 

Sacramento, CA -- California Department of
Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
 officials say their new policy that allows for
 more non-lethal options,
 like scaring off the animal or relocation, is
 working. The new policy
 was adopted in February after an earlier
 incident where game wardens
 shot and killed two cubs under the porch
 of a home in Half Moon Bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Sometimes
 you can find a mountain
 lion or bear in an unusual

 location otherwise behaving normally,"
 said CDFW Law
 Enforcement Chief Mike Carion. "It
isn't always a threat to
 public safety. Every situation is unique
. We are pleased that
 this policy allows us to evaluate each
 situation carefully and
 to choose a solution which allows a
co-existence between humans
 and wildlife while allowing discretion
 to act when there is a public
 safety issue."

 

The CDFW has ordered field equipment
 to better deal the non-lethal
 handling of human and wildlife conflict
calls since the new policy
 was implemented. The Department says
 they have had many
 incidents were non-lethal methods have
 been used. They cite
 an incident in Santa Cruz this past May
 where a lion fell into
 a culvert and was not able to get out.
The lion was darted and
 later released in the Soquel
 Demonstration State Forest. Fish
 and Wildlife did not specify the
 number of mountain lion tha
t have been killed since the new
 policy was put in place.

 

CDFW Officials believe there are
 between 4,000 and 6,000
 mountain lions statewide. They
 say mountain lion attacks on
 humans are rare.