Common Sense on Cougars

The landowner wanted the mountain lion to stay away from his goats. Fair enough. But in this case, the mountain lion was the last male in the Santa Monica Mountains, the last chance for the species to propagate in the area -- and the landowner insisted on his right to use deadly force, even though he said he wanted to only scare the cougar, not kill it.

But a rigidly worded state law -- set into the stone of a statewide proposition -- guaranteed the goat owner a hunting permit, something that made no sense for man or beast in this case. Hard as it will be, the state should repair its law on cougars, allowing wildlife officials to take special circumstances into account before they issue hunting permits.

The story is rife with contradictions, but there is no doubt that the mountain lion, dubbed P1, killed several goats belonging to Brian A. Sweeney, who keeps 180 assorted animals, from goats to llamas, on his 615 acres next to the open parkland. Federal officials agreed to provide the hunter, who was already in the vicinity. Those officials insist that the plan was to kill P1, though Sweeney says otherwise. Shots were fired, the lion moved on, and the story seems to have a happy ending, presuming P1 hasn’t developed a lifelong taste for goat meat.

Keeping a bunch of unprotected goats penned next to a wilderness area was like offering P1 a lion-style Big Mac -- super-sized. In addition, the use of deadly force to frighten the animal was unnecessary, probably ineffective and certainly dangerous. Even the feds who provided the hunter say that’s not the way to scare a mountain lion; it’s the way to kill it. Mountain lion experts say the cats are not frightened by rifle shots. They do hate being near big, aggressive dogs. The hounds that chased P1 probably deserve the thanks for frightening him away, not the gun.

Ironically, the 1990 state proposition that protected mountain lions from trophy hunting included the overly rigid provision that wardens “shall” issue a hunting permit after lions kill livestock. The wording was rightly meant to protect ranchers’ livelihood. A four-fifths vote of the Legislature is needed to effect a change that would protect ranchers yet allow for exceptional circumstances.

While they’re at it, legislators should tuck in a provision that has ranchers try cougar deterrents before they reach for deadly force. Lighting and well-trained guard dogs can make a big difference, research shows. The increasing numbers of people who move next to lion territory must share responsibility for preserving the wilderness. The Mountain Lion Foundation has offered to help Sweeney figure out a better way to protect his goats. He should take that offer.