Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the voters at the June 5, 1990, statewide direct primary election, enacted the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. The act establishes that the mountain lion is a specially protected mammal under the laws of this state, and makes it unlawful to take, injure, possess, transport, import, or sell a mountain lion or a product of a mountain lion. The act authorizes a person whose livestock or other property is being or has been injured, damaged, or destroyed by a mountain lion to report that fact to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and request a permit to take the mountain lion. The act requires the department or a specifically authorized animal damage control officer to immediately confirm the reported depredation by a mountain lion, and then promptly issue a permit to take the mountain lion.

This bill would authorize, rather than require, the issuance of a permit under these circumstances.

The California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990 prohibits the Legislature from changing the act, with specified exceptions, except by a ⁴/₅ vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature and then only if consistent with, and in furtherance of, the purposes of the act.

This bill would declare that it is consistent with, and furthers the purposes of, that act.

Date of Hearing: April 25, 2017

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE

Eduardo Garcia , Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 8 (

Author:Bloom) – As Introduced Ver:December 5, 2016

SUBJECT: Mountain lions: depredation permits

SUMMARY: Provides the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) discretion to authorize rather than require the issuance of a mountain lion depredation permit. Specifically, this bill:

1. Changes the existing requirement that the DFW shall issue a mountain lion depredation permit if there is confirmation that a mountain lion has injured, damaged, or destroyed livestock or property to, the DFW may issue a mountain lion depredation permit.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Provides that mountain lions are a specially protected mammal and makes it unlawful to take, injure, possess, transport, import or sell any mountain lion or any part or product thereof, with limited exceptions (Proposition 117, 1990 statewide initiative).

Exceptions that allow the DFW to permit take, removal, capturing, injuring, or killing of a mountain lion are:

• 1. A mountain lion that is perceived to be an imminent threat to public health or safety.
  2. When it can be confirmed that a mountain lion has killed or damaged pets or livestock (depredation).
  3. A mountain lion that is perceived to be an imminent threat to the survival of fully protected Bighorn Sheep.
  4. A research project that has been permitted for scientific purposes, to among other things, prevent the permanent injury or killing of mountain lions.

1. Places conditions on a depredation permit, such that it:
   1. Expires after 10 days.
   2. Restricts pursuit to begin not more than one mile from the depredation site and limits the pursuit to within a 10 mile radius from the site.
2. Requires the DFW to annually complete a necropsy and report to the Legislature on mountain lion depredation.
3. Requires a 4/5 vote of the Legislature to amend Proposition 117, and requires that any amendment be in furtherance of the purpose of the initiative.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS: Authorizes the DFW to use discretion to issue a mountain lion depredation permit rather than require the issuance of a permit.

Author’s Statement:

This bill 8 will give DFW wardens the flexibility they need to help manage and protect the states apex predator and help California Mountain lion peacefully coexist in an ever changing environment, setting an example for co-existence and stewardship for future generations.

Background. Allow For DFW Discretion. The question this bill raises is, should the DFW be required to issue a depredation permit as opposed to having discretion to issue a permit when a mountain lion depredation has occurred? Under existing law, the DFW only has discretion to determine if depredation has occurred. If satisfied that a depredation has occurred then the DFW must issue a permit for the take of the mountain lion.

Mountain lion are protected from being hunted, with limited exceptions. The most commonly utilized exception is for taking a mountain lion that has been found to have depredated. The purpose of taking a depredating mountain lion is to protect a property owner who has been harmed by a mountain lion from future harm. It is not clear that taking a mountain lion under a depredation permit will provide for long-term protection from harm by a mountain lion. Culling mountain lion through permitted depredation take has not been shown to be an effective solution to depredation unless other risk reduction measures have been taken. It is possible that taking a mountain lion under depredation will destabilize the mountain lion population in a way that could lead to more depredations. If long-term protection from depredation were achieved through a depredation take it is most likely an indicator of larger problems with the health of the local population of mountain lion.

Mountain lion are secretive and solitary, are mostly active at night, and highly mobile carnivores that occur in low densities, and roam enormous tracts of wilderness. As a result, mountain lion are hard to study and it is not well understood what causes a mountain lion to depredate. It is known that mountain lion infrequently depredate and do not rely on depredation for a large portion of their food. The most recent necropsy report to the Legislature indicates that the vast majority of depredation permits issued are for goat and sheep. The necropsy report additionally found mountain lion stomach contents taken on depredation permits to be 38% unidentifiable, 24% goat, 20% no contents, 11% sheep, 5% domestic pet, 2% deer. This would indicate that the wrong mountain lion has been taken at least 22% of the time and possibly over 60% of the time.

There has been no demonstrated relationship between mountain lion density and depredation. There has been however a demonstrated relationship between density of domestic animals in mountain lion habitat and depredation. There is no consistent characteristic of a depredating lion. It is believed that young (particularly male) lions leaving their mother to establish their own home range, older lions whose hunting skills have declined, and otherwise starving lions, are the most likely to depredate.

Steps can be taken by property owners that reduce the prospect of a mountain lion depredating. The specific steps that can be taken and the success of those measures will be site specific. No approach has been shown to reduce risk to zero, but several general practices, such as, having a guard dog, lowering the density of domestic animals, limiting cover on and slope of terrain near the domestic animals, and when possible, enclosing animals at night, have been shown to reduce risk. It is possible that providing the DFW with discretion to issue a depredation permit will create conditions for improved management, especially on properties where repeat depredation has occurred.

Mountain Lion Basics. The mountain lion is California’s largest remaining natural predator, and is recognized as a keystone species that plays an integral role in maintaining the balance of wildlife population and the overall health of the state’s natural ecosystems. Mountain lion are habitat generalist with slightly less than 50% of California estimated to be suitable mountain lion habitat. The mountain lion’s preferred prey is deer or other ungulates, but it varies greatly depending on available prey, and their habitat is essentially the same as that of deer in California. Mountain lion maintain home ranges that vary in size by age, sex, and prey density, with prey density being the most prominent factor in determining the size of the home range. Home ranges have been estimated to be anywhere from 10 square miles in prime habitat, to possibly 700 square miles, in less optimal habitat, with males having much larger home ranges than females.

Mountain lion live up to 10 years in the wild. While there are many causes of mountain lion death in California, including natural causes, humans are the predominate cause of death through vehicular, depredation, poisoning, public safety, possibly unreported illegal killing, and even scientific research. Depredation and motor vehicle collisions are the number one and number two known causes of mountain lion deaths with both causing approximately 100 deaths per year.

Loss of habitat is likely the greatest single threat to wildlife, and the mountain lion is no exception. Large tracts of habitat are necessary to maintain individual populations of mountain lion, and corridors that connect these tracts are required for dispersal of mountain lion between populations. Many mountain lion populations in California are exhibiting inbreeding due to genetic isolation primarily caused by development encroaching on mountain lion habitat.

It has been suggested that it is necessary to maintain a population of at least 50 mountain lion in a connected habitat area in order to maintain long-term viability. That would take a contiguous relatively undisturbed 30x30 mile area in prime habitat. Given that the availability of 30 contiguous miles is rare and that finding those miles in prime habitat is unlikely, the need for maintaining and restoring connectivity will be critical for long-term viability of mountain lion. Only one estimate of actual area needed to sustain a mountain lion population for at least 100 years has been calculated. That estimate is for the Santa Ana Mountains where an area of about 850 square miles of habitat would be required.

There are no direct counts of the mountain lion population in California with the DFW stating that “Any statewide estimate of the mountain lion population is just a ‘guesstimate.’ Mountain lion studies have estimated population densities for different habitat types around the state. These density estimates were have been expanded to arrive at the ‘guesstimate’ population. This method provides a crude estimate of between 4,000 and 6,000 mountain lion statewide.” That population “guesstimate” by the DFW has been unchanged since 1972. In 2012, the DFW’s Bear and Lion Coordinator stated that California's lion "population size is, in fact, smaller than it was 10 years ago." estimating California's statewide lion population to be approximately 4,000 animals and dropping.

Prior and Related Legislation:

• Proposition 117, June 1990, approved by the voters with 52% of voters supporting. Provided mountain lion with special protected mammal status, and with limited exceptions, made it unlawful to take, injure, possess, transport, import or sell any mountain lion or any part or product thereof.
• SB 28 (Leslie), Chapter 779, Statutes of 1995, placed Proposition 197 on the March 1996 ballot. The Proposition would have removed mountain lion from special protected mammal status. The measure failed with 58% of voters voting No.
• AB 560 (Oller), Chapter 435, Statues of 1999, allowed for the take of mountain lion that are perceived by the DFW to be an imminent threat to fully protected big horn sheep.
• SB 132 (Hill), Chapter 208, Statues of 2013, required nonlethal means be used when removing a mountain lion that is not an imminent threat to public health or safety.

Supporting Arguments. This bill will allow the DFW to tailor their response to the specific circumstances of the incident, providing a wider variety of management tools and greater protection for livestock, people and lions. Changes to California’s mountain lion protection statute are needed so that the DWF is engaged to help better assess the underlying causes of specific depredations, provide suggestions for avoiding future conflicts, offer alternative deterrent actions short of lethal control, and to consider the interests of the mountain lion population prior to issuing a permit authorizing the mountain lion to be killed. Recent research has shown that killing a lion does not adequately address the underlying causes of depredation.

Opposing Arguments. Mountain lions cause significant loss to those who care for livestock and this bill would make it more difficult to stop mountain lions from killing these animals. This bill would allow discretion to deny a permit even if it is demonstrated that a mountain lion is responsible for the depredation. This dramatic change in the process for issuing depredation permits could extend the time it takes to issue a depredation permit lowering the likelihood of finding the offending animal, could require a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis for the issuance of a depredation permit, and could lead to a greater number of domestic animals killed by mountain lions.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Action for Animals

All Wildlife Rescue & Education

Animal Legal Defense Fund

Animal Place

Animal Rescue Team

Battle Creek Alliance

Bear League

Born Free USA

California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators

California League of Conservation Voters

California Wildlife Center

Center for Biological Diversity

Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW)

Clover Valley Foundation

Cougar Connection

Cougar Fund, The

Critter Creek Wildlife Station

Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue

EarthShare California

Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care

EcoEquity

Endangered Habitats League

Environment California

Environmental Protection Information Center

Felidae Conservation Fund

Fund for Animals Wildlife Center, The

Hills for Everyone

Humane Society of the United States ,The

Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, The

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, Bird Ally X

In Defense of Animals

Injured and Orphaned Wildlife

Laguna Greenbelt, Inc.

Lockwood Animal Rescue Center

Los Padres ForestWatch

Mountain Lion Foundation (Sponsor)

National Parks Conservation Association

Natural Resources Defense Council

Nature of Wildworks, The

Planning and Conservation League

Poison Free Malibu

Project Bobcat

Project Coyote

Raptors Are the Solution

San Diego Humane Society

San Francisco SPCA

Sierra Club - California

Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue

Southern California Desert Video Astronomers

Turtle Island Restoration Network

Wild Cat Education and Conservation Fund

WildCare

WildFutures

Wildlife Emergency Services and Humane Wildlife Control

Wildlife Research Institute

Opposition

California Cattlemen’s Association

California Farm Bureau Federation

California Rifle and Pistol Association

California Wool Growers Association

Analysis Prepared by: Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. /