SECTIONS 4800-4809 - California Statutes

FISH AND GAME CODE

SECTION 4800-4809

4800. (a) The mountain lion (genus Felis) is a specially protected
mammal under the laws of this state.
(b) It is unlawful to take, injure, possess, transport, import, or
sell any mountain lion or any part or product thereof, except as
specifically provided in this chapter or in Chapter 2 (commencing
with Section 2116) of Division 3. This chapter does not prohibit the
sale or possession of any mountain lion or any part or product
thereof, when the owner can demonstrate that the mountain lion, or
part or product thereof, was in the person's possession on June 6,
1990.
(c) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or a fine
of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that
fine and imprisonment. An individual is not guilty of a violation of
this section if it is demonstrated that, in taking or injuring a
mountain lion, the individual was acting in self-defense or in
defense of others.
(d) Section 219 does not apply to this chapter. Neither the
commission nor the department shall adopt any regulation that
conflicts with or supersedes any of the provisions of this chapter.

4801. The department may remove or take any mountain lion, or
authorize an appropriate local agency with public safety
responsibility to remove or take any mountain lion, that is perceived
to be an imminent threat to public health or safety or that is
perceived by the department to be an imminent threat to the survival
of any threatened, endangered, candidate, or fully protected sheep
species.

4802. Any person, or the employee or agent of a person, whose
livestock or other property is being or has been injured, damaged, or
destroyed by a mountain lion may report that fact to the department
and request a permit to take the mountain lion.

4803. Upon receipt of a report pursuant to Section 4802, the
department, or any animal damage control officer specifically
authorized by the department to carry out this responsibility, shall
immediately take the action necessary to confirm that there has been
depredation by a mountain lion as reported. The confirmation process
shall be completed as quickly as possible, but in no event more than
48 hours after receiving the report. If satisfied that there has been
depredation by a mountain lion as reported, the department shall
promptly issue a permit to take the depredating mountain lion.

4804. In order to ensure that only the depredating mountain lion
will be taken, the department shall issue the permit pursuant to
Section 4803 with the following conditions attached:
(a) The permit shall expire 10 days after issuance.
(b) The permit shall authorize the holder to begin pursuit not
more than one mile from the depredation site.
(c) The permit shall limit the pursuit of the depredating mountain
lion to within a 10-mile radius from the location of the reported
damage or destruction.

4805. Whenever immediate authorization will materially assist in
the pursuit of the particular mountain lion believed to be
responsible for the depredation reported pursuant to Section 4802,
the department or the animal damage control officer may orally
authorize the pursuit and taking of the depredating mountain lion,
and the department shall issue a written permit for the period
previously authorized as soon as practicable after the oral
authorization.

4806. Any person issued a permit pursuant to Section 4803 or 4805
shall report, by telephone within 24 hours, the capturing, injuring,
or killing of any mountain lion to an office of the department or, if
telephoning is not practicable, in writing within five days after
the capturing, injuring, or killing of the mountain lion. At the time
of making the report of the capturing, injuring, or killing, the
holder of the permit shall make arrangements to turn over the
mountain lion or the entire carcass of the mountain lion which has
been recovered to a representative of the department and shall do so
in a timely manner.

4807. (a) Any mountain lion that is encountered while in the act of
pursuing, inflicting injury to, or killing livestock, or domestic
animals, may be taken immediately by the owner of the property or the
owner's employee or agent. The taking shall be reported within 72
hours to the department. The department shall investigate the
depredation, and, if the mountain lion was captured, injured, or
killed, the mountain lion or the entire carcass of the mountain lion
which has been recovered shall be turned over to the department. Upon
satisfactorily completing the investigation and receiving the
mountain lion or the carcass, if recovered, the department shall
issue a permit confirming that the requirements of this section have
been met with respect to the particular mountain lion taken under
these circumstances.
(b) The department shall undertake a complete necropsy on any
returned mountain lion carcass and report the findings to the
commission. The commission shall compile the reported findings and
prepare an annual written report that shall be submitted to the
Legislature not later than the January 15 next following the year in
which the mountain lion was taken.

4808. As used in this chapter, "agent" means the agent or employee
of the owner of the damaged or destroyed property, any county or city
predator control officer, any employee of the Animal Damage Control
Section of the United States Department of Agriculture, any
departmental personnel, or any authorized or permitted houndsman
registered with the department as possessing the requisite experience
and having no prior conviction of any provision of this code or
regulation adopted pursuant to this code. A plea of nolo contendere
is a conviction for purposes of this section.

4809. Mountain lions authorized to be taken pursuant to this
chapter shall be taken by the most effective means available to take
the mountain lion causing the damage or destruction, except that no
mountain lion shall be taken by means of poison, leg-hold or
metal-jawed traps, and snares.