Here are your rights if you come face-to-face with a mountain lion

EL DORADO COUNTY - There have been several mountain lion sightings across the Northern California Sierra Foothills recently. Some people have even said a mountain lion has killed their pet or livestock .

Killing a mountain lion is illegal in California unless certain circumstances apply, which may leave you wondering what your rights are if you come face to face with one.

Sgt. Kyle Parker, a spokesperson for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, said they took 14 calls in the last month regarding mountain lion sightings. He said you have the right to kill one if it poses an imminent threat.

"The imminent threat would be more if you were cornered and have nowhere to go, you can't get inside, you can't get away from the mountain lion," Sgt. Parker said.

According to the California Fish and Game Code, an imminent threat is "where a mountain lion exhibits one or more aggressive behaviors directed toward a person."

"Do we have to wait until it gets onto the school grounds and corners a 12-year-old before we can do anything?" said Bill Gaines, principal of Gaines and Associates.

Gaines and Associates is a political advocacy firm dedicated to wildlife conservation and the future of outdoor heritage. Gaines said he worries that many people in El Dorado County may not know what their rights are if they come in contact with a mountain lion.

He said you can also obtain a depredation permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife if you catch a mountain lion injuring or hurting a person or one of your animals.

However, Gaines said the wording may be too vague.

"A common-sense change to the definition of imminent threat is one thing we would like to see and then the depredation policy that I think makes it clear to the general public," Gaines said.

Robin Parks is with the Mountain Lion Foundation which is based in Sacramento.

He said that as our local cities expand, more land is taken away from the mountain lions, which is why we may see more in residential areas or during the daytime. But he said this does not mean their population is increasing.

"[El Dorado County has] one of the highest number of requests for depredation permits and depredation permits issued that does allow for the legal killing of the cat but that is still not an indication that the population is exploding," Parks said.

He said killing them may not be the simple solution that some people think.

"What happens is if you kill one mountain lion, that allows the vacancy for another mountain lion to come in," Parks said.

To learn more about obtaining a depredation permit, you can click here.

If you catch a mountain lion in the act or believe it has harmed your livestock or pets, you should contact local law enforcement or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife immediately.