Four bills have been introduced this year into the Oregon legislature that threaten cougars. All four bills, H.B. 2107, H.B. 2589, S.B. 371 and S.B. 458, would take a step back towards animal cruelty and once again put Oregon's cougar population and other wildlife in grave danger from the cruel and unnecessary practice of hound hunting.

Oregon mountain lions have been safe from . . .

The December 18, 2016 game camera photo of a female lion in Shannon County, Missouri brings great hope that the state will soon have its own breeding population of lions again! Female lions generally don't disperse as far as males. This brave pioneer will face many daunting challenges as she forges into the Midwest to find a mate.

Since 1994, Missouri has confirmed just 68 mountain . . .

Help us thank the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) for giving this mountain lion mom and her kittens a second chance. The lion family was undoubtedly out of place in an urban area.

Relocation of lions provides its own set of challenges, as this lion family will have to learn new terrain and wildlife patterns, but IDFG's decision to relocate the family to remote habitat is to . . .

Colorado's plan to kill mountain lions and bears to boost mule deer populations is horribly at odds with the best available science. Killing predators creates social chaos and can actually increase conflict with livestock and pets. And predator kill plans do not increase game populations.

In addition, Colorado grossly dismisses it's citizen majority that does not support these woefully . . .

According to new information from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the biggest threat to mountain lions in California is being hit by cars, and more than 100 mountain lions died in 2016 on California's roads and highways. This loss is in addition to the 100 cats that die each year as a result of depredation permits.

Andrew Hughan, CDFW public information officer, told . . .

It can be easy to forget that mountain lions share the hills of Southern California with the bustling city. We have so little contact with the large cats that we can forget how important it is to keep pets and livestock safe in fully enclosed structures at night.

Over Thanksgiving weekend 2016, one landowner north of Malibu, California lost 10 alpacas, purportedly to a mountain lion. . . .

The California Superior Court issued an order on October 24, 2016 denying Monterey County's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed in June by a coalition of animal protection and conservation organizations including the Mountain Lion Foundation that challenges the county's contract renewal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services.

According to the lawsuit, Monterey . . .

From their review of the prevailing research into lethal and non-lethal predator control practices in North America and Europe, an international trio of environmental scientists has determined that the science behind the reviewed research is not very scientific. In fact, the authors of the review- titled "Predator Control Should Not be a Shot in the Dark"- call for a moratorium on lethal predator . . .

Agency claims eastern cougar "subspecies" is extinct, but DNA evidence says all cougars in North America are the same subspecies

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Christopher Spatz, Cougar Rewilding Foundation, 845-658-2233, spatzcat61@gmail.com
Lynn Cullens, Mountain Lion Foundation, 916-606-1610, LCullens@mountainlion.org
Greg Costello, Wildlands Network, 206-260-1177, . . .

On the morning of July 1, 2016, residents in Oroville (about sixty miles north of Sacramento) spotted a mountain lion lounging in a tree near the intersection of Greenville and Myers Street.

Oroville Police and California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers responded. Though it took some time and a few attempts, the lion was eventually sedated. The hot weather and drugs can cause . . .