State agencies are now mandated to protect the big cats, which have been increasingly vulnerable due to habitat loss
More than 1,400 mountain lions across California are now protected by the state’s Endangered Species Act, the state’s fish and game commission announced on Thursday.
The commission unanimously voted to list six groups of central coast and southern California mountain lions under the California Endangered Species Act, meaning the agency determined that they are likely to become extinct without intervention. The affected species can be found from the Bay Area all the way down to the Mexican border.