AR-News: (US CA) Mountain lions, humans increasingly crossing paths

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

By Benjamin Spillman
The Desert Sun
February 1, 2004 

Somewhere in the desert mountains there’s a young puma with some big 
decisions to make.

If the 2-year-old lion known to scientists as M-6 tries to stake out 
territory too close to people, he could wind up on the business end of a depredation 
permit, essentially a state license to kill troublesome wildlife.

If he sticks to the back country and stays out of trouble, he has a chance to 
live his life as the top dog in the wildlife food chain.

So far M-6 -- spotted electronically west of the La Quinta cove Dec. 20 -- isn
’t tipping his paw.

But the scientists tracking him by radio collar know that if the big cat 
preys on humans’ pets or livestock, he is increasingly likely to meet an untimely 
demise.

In the decades since 1972, the number of permits issued for killing mountain 
lions has increased more than tenfold statewide, according to figures from the 
California Department of Fish and Game.

Although Riverside County isn’t a hotbed of mountain lion activity, there 
were 47 mountain lion depredation permits issued since 1972 -- 32 of them since 
1990.

A depredation permit is a piece of paper that allows the bearer to kill a 
mountain lion accused of damaging or destroying human property -- usually 
livestock, but pets also count.

"When a cat no longer fears man and is going to come down into his domain, I’
m sorry, the cat has to go," said Woody Adams, who lives with his family in 
Snow Creek Canyon, just north of Palm Springs.






full story:
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20040201015035.shtml



"The world is a dangerous place,
not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing.",
Albert Einstein

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