Can Humans and Cougars Coexist as Wild Lands Keep Shrinking?

Re “To the Cougar, Are People Now Fair Game?,” Jan. 11:

While experts state that the threat of mountain lions has become an increasing problem as development encroaches on rural areas, Southern California has been encroaching on wild areas for the last 100 years.

The problem is that there is less wild area, and more mountain lions, especially since Proposition 117 passed in 1990, prohibiting the hunting of mountain lions in California.

We are not moving into their territory; they are moving into ours.

While I find the practice of hunting mountain lions abhorrent, I find these continued attacks on people far worse.

It is time to put our emotions in check and have state agencies provide sound game management.

Trevor Santochi

Laguna Niguel

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It’s a shame that when people intrude on the living areas of animals, the animals suffer. If bike riders don’t want encounters with mountain lions and other wild animals, they should stay out of their habitats.

Bruce McDougall

Southbury, Conn.

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The American mountain lion is one of my favorite animals. The cougar typifies wilderness America and our Western heritage. It is one of God’s most beautiful creatures. The cougar, sadly, has no place in urbanized Orange County.

Charles Jenner

Los Alamitos