US EditionCalifornia Wildlife Officials Give Mountain Lions New Habitat Protections
California Fish and Game Commission’s listing covers one-third of state’s 4,200 mountain lions, creating legal protections to address threats like habitat loss and rat poison.
- On Feb. 12, 2026, the California Fish and Game Commission granted permanent protections by listing six Central Coast and Southern California puma populations as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.
- A 2019 petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and Mountain Lion Foundation prompted a multi-year review, leading to a December 2025 California Department of Fish and Wildlife staff recommendation.
- Scientists and advocates say habitat loss, fragmentation and rat-poison exposure imperil coastal puma groups, while vehicle strikes and wildfires cause death and illness, risking an `extinction vortex`.
- State agencies must now address threats to six puma populations from the Bay Area to the Mexico border, while development projects must identify harms and trigger CEQA protections, recovery planning and conservation funding.
- Developers and trade groups warned habitat maps could raise project costs, ranchers and residents expressed concern about management restrictions despite permits for management `take`, and advocates highlighted the nearly $100 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
37 Articles
37 Articles
Mountain Lions in Central and Southern California listed as threatened under CA Endangered Species Act
The decision to list these mountain lions as threatened follows a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Mountain Lion Foundation. They highlighted the risks of inbreeding and other threats, calling for increased connectivity in habitats.
Some California mountain lion populations now considered ‘threatened’
(AP) -- Just weeks after a mountain lion wandered into San Francisco, state officials voted to permanently protect populations of the charismatic predators that prowl the coastal mountains between the Bay Area and the Mexican border. Mountain lions are one of the last big predators keeping ecosystems in balance. They feed on deer and other animals, leave scavengers, raptors and other wildlife the remains, and help maintain equilibrium among plan…
California votes to protect mountain lions under the state Endangered Species Act
The vote secured the Southern California and Central Coast mountain lions as a distinct population segment (DPS) and listed both populations as threatened under CESA because of their vulnerability to these threats and becoming locally extinct.
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