Letters: California’s cougar ballot measure is a model for other states

Re “Why we still kill cougars” (sacbee.com, Nov. 3): California got it right when it banned trophy hunting of mountain lions, but the recent story doesn’t underscore how valuable the policy has been in preventing needless cruelty. Occasional conflicts are inevitable, but the numbers have been stable, despite a surge in human population. Much of this growth has occurred in mountain lion territory, making the stable conflict data even more noteworthy. Trophy hunters and government agents in other states with smaller sized populations collectively kill 300 to 600 lions a year. With agents killing about 100 a year in California, and trophy hunting forbidden, the policy is providing protection for hundreds of animals a year. Proposition 117 is model for other states to emulate.

This story was originally published November 12, 2017 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Letters: California’s cougar ballot measure is a model for other states."