Cougars Don’t Need to Be ‘Managed’
* I am responding to the Jan. 10 letter from Robert M. Miller, who wants cougars “managed” by Department of Fish and Game “experts.”
The voter-approved Proposition 117 specifically provides Fish and Game with management and public-safety authority. That measure restricts only cruel, one-sided, high-tech cougar trophy hunting.
It should also be noted that wildlife management policy is made by the Fish and Game Commission, not by the department. Commission members are political appointees of the governor. To my knowledge, none of the commissioners are environment, ecology or biodiversity “experts.”
Dr. Miller says he believes that cougars are overpopulated. But overpopulation is not substantiated by evidence. Why has Fish and Game not undertaken a statewide study of the cougar and its population? Nothing in current law restricts Fish and Game from doing such a study. Further, extensive studies by international researcher Maurice Hornocker have found that cougars are self-regulating and don’t overpopulate.
The cougar isn’t the property of, nor does he “belong to,” those who want to kill him for fun and profit.
CARROL McDONALD
Thousand Oaks
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