During our ten years of research, we found that the greatest impact of cougar predation could be done by just a single individual cougar. But that may not be as simple as it sounds. Cougar management has become a highly politicized issue in the West. Many people feel strongly that the cats should not be killed for any reason, some out of a mistaken belief that the cougar is endangered. In California, cougar advocates have consistently fought recovery plans for Sierra Nevada bighorn when they included a provision for killing some cats.
People identify with cougars because they're pet-like.
Many people favor relocating cats instead of killing them, but experts say that is rarely feasible. An animal has to learn to make a living in a dramatically new area, and with cougars, the majority of them die within a year. Another factor is that cougars exhibit tremendous homing abilities for moving over 200 miles back to where they came from. Some have suggested putting them in zoos, but most zoos will not take an adult lion. In some places, reintroducing competing large predators could restore balance to the ecosystems.