In turn, conservationists have proposed, also with Fish and Game, legislation to begin management of lions without hunting. These efforts were blocked by hunters. The recent spate of sightings and attacks, however, opened the door for 197. Proposition 197 purports to restore common sense to California's mountain lion management policy. Most wildlife biologists agree that money is needed for research into the still mysterious lion population, and California Department of Fish and Game officials consider recent attacks on humans more than just inevitable mishaps.
Evidence suggests that cougars are behaving oddly.
In Yosemite National Park in 1994, a mountain lion dragged a dead coyote through crowded Curry Village cabins, and one puma chose as its stalking ground an occupied campsite. Shots from a paint-ball gun were not enough to get the lion off its haunches. Park visitors have reported hundreds of sightings in the last two years. The Department of Fish and Game thinks it's grown. But I can't think of any reliable, systematic studies.