California mountain lion laws classify the animal as a “specially protected mammal,” which makes it illegal to kill, injure, possess, transport, import, or sell a mountain lion or any part of one except in a few narrow situations. The core rule comes from Fish and Game Code Section 4800, enacted through Proposition 117 in 1990. Break it and you’re looking at a misdemeanor carrying up to a year in county jail and a $10,000 fine for each animal involved. A separate federal law, in force since December 2022, adds its own nationwide ban on private ownership.
What Section 4800 Prohibits
Fish and Game Code Section 4800 designates the mountain lion (genus Puma) as a specially protected mammal and forbids taking, injuring, possessing, transporting, importing, or selling a mountain lion or any mountain lion product.1California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 4800 – Mountain Lions There is no sport-hunting season. Unlike deer or bear, mountain lions cannot be legally taken with a hunting tag under any circumstance in California.
The exceptions are limited to three fact patterns: genuine self-defense, catching a lion in the act of attacking livestock or pets, and removals carried out by CDFW or an agency it authorizes when public safety is at risk.
When You Can Legally Kill a Mountain Lion
Self-Defense or Defense of Others
Section 4800 does not apply to a person who takes or injures a mountain lion while defending themselves or another person.1California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 4800 – Mountain Lions This works as an affirmative defense, so the burden is on you to show the threat was real and immediate. Report the incident to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) promptly and hand over the carcass.
A Mountain Lion in the Act of Attacking Livestock or Pets
Section 4807 lets you take a mountain lion that you encounter pursuing, injuring, or killing livestock or domestic animals on your property. You then have 72 hours to report the incident to CDFW and surrender the carcass if you recover it.2California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code Chapter 10 – Mountain Lions CDFW performs a necropsy and reports its findings to the Fish and Game Commission.
This exception is narrow. It covers catching the animal in the act. If you find dead livestock and suspect a mountain lion but didn’t see it happen, you need a depredation permit instead.
Imminent Threats to Public Safety
CDFW, or a local agency it authorizes, can remove or take a mountain lion that poses an imminent threat to public health or safety, or to the survival of a threatened, endangered, or fully protected sheep species.3California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 4801 – Mountain Lions Private individuals don’t have this authority. A lion hanging around a schoolyard is a call to CDFW, not a shooting.
Depredation Permits
When a mountain lion has damaged property but you weren’t there to catch it in the act, the process is a depredation permit. You report the loss to CDFW, which sends someone to confirm a mountain lion was responsible. That confirmation has to happen within 48 hours of your report.4Justia. California Fish and Game Code 4800-4809 – Mountain Lions Once confirmed, CDFW issues a revocable permit to take the specific lion believed responsible. If quick action is needed to pursue that lion, the department can give oral authorization before the paperwork catches up.5Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 14 Section 402 – Issuance of Permits to Kill Mountain Lion Causing Damage
A common misconception is that you must always try non-lethal deterrents first. In most of California, that’s not a prerequisite. CDFW has adopted a three-tier stepwise process for the Santa Ana and Santa Monica Mountains, where the first and second confirmed depredations bring non-lethal permits (hazing only) and a lethal permit is available only after a third event. Elsewhere, the standard process applies.
Certain methods are off-limits no matter what. Section 4809 bans poison, leg-hold and metal-jawed traps, and snares in taking a mountain lion.2California Legislative Information. California Fish and Game Code Chapter 10 – Mountain Lions
Possessing Mountain Lion Parts
Section 4800 sweeps in mountain lion products: hides, claws, skulls, taxidermy mounts. Possessing or selling any of these is a crime unless you fit one of two exceptions.1California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 4800 – Mountain Lions
- Pre-1990 items. If you can show the item was in your possession on or before June 6, 1990, when Proposition 117 took effect, you can keep it or sell it.
- Scientific or educational use. A carcass or part may be held by a nonprofit museum, a government facility open to the public, or an educational institution, provided the lion was legally taken, the item is being prepared for display or storage, and CDFW has specifically authorized the possession.
Everything outside those two lanes is a misdemeanor.
Owning a Live Mountain Lion
You cannot keep a mountain lion as a pet in California. Mountain lions sit on the restricted species list in Title 14, Section 671, so importing, transporting, or possessing one is unlawful without a department-issued permit, and those permits are limited to accredited zoos, qualifying exhibitors and sanctuaries, and research institutions operating under Sections 671.1 or 650.6Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 14 Section 671 – Importation, Transportation and Possession of Live Restricted Animals
Federal law now reinforces the ban. The Big Cat Public Safety Act (Public Law 117-243), in force since December 2022, prohibits private breeding, possession, import, export, or sale of cougars and six other big cat species in interstate or foreign commerce. Anyone who owned a cougar before the law took effect had 180 days to register the animal with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; registered animals can be kept for the animal’s life but not bred or replaced. Failing to register can bring up to $20,000 in fines and five years in federal prison per violation.7GovInfo. Big Cat Public Safety Act The federal act also bans direct public contact with big cats, so pay-to-pet encounters and cub photo sessions are off-limits even at facilities that hold valid state permits.
Criminal Penalties
A Section 4800 violation is a misdemeanor. The maximum is one year in county jail, a $10,000 fine, or both.1California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 4800 – Mountain Lions Each animal counts as a separate offense. Someone caught with multiple hides can face stacked counts.
Prosecutors can also charge animal cruelty under Penal Code Section 597 when the conduct was intentional or malicious. Section 597 is a wobbler, chargeable as a misdemeanor or a felony. The felony version carries 16 months, two years, or three years in county jail under Penal Code Section 1170(h), plus fines of up to $20,000.8California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 597 – Cruelty to Animals9California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1170 – Sentencing Interstate trafficking can add federal Lacey Act exposure on top of the state case.
Administrative Penalties
Separate from any criminal case, CDFW can impose administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per animal for unlawfully taking, possessing, transporting, or selling wildlife, including mountain lions. The authority comes from Fish and Game Code Sections 2582 and 2583, and the amount is set through a hearing that weighs factors like commercial value and whether the violation was done for profit.10Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 14 Section 747 – Guidelines for Imposing Civil Penalties These fines stack on top of criminal fines and jail time. Enforcement runs through the department, not through private lawsuits.
Reporting a Violation
Poaching, illegal captivity, and other mountain lion violations go to CalTIP, the Californians Turn In Poachers and Polluters program. The toll-free hotline at 1-888-334-2258 runs day and night, and online submissions are accepted through the CDFW enforcement page during business hours.11California Department of Fish and Wildlife. About the CALTIP Program You can stay anonymous. Location, time, and a description of what you saw are what wildlife officers use to prioritize the tip, and a report that leads to a conviction can qualify for a reward.