Tejon Ranch to suspend hunting as mountain lion killings probed [View all]

[ellisonz]

January 20, 2012 | 6:02 pm
--Louis Sahagun

Tejon Ranch announced Friday that it plans to suspend its lucrative hunting operations temporarily as California Department of Fish and Game investigates the illegal killing of mountain lions on the historic 270,000-acre ranch north of Los Angeles.

The investigation was prompted by claims in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a former Tejon Ranch hunting guide who alleges that he was fired after he complained about the illegal killing of mountain lions at the direction of the company.

---------

In an earlier interview, Sanders said he witnessed "20 mountain lions dead on the ground without a depredation permit."

Sanders said the killings were motivated by angry sentiments among ranch managers toward a 1990 law that made hunting mountain lions illegal in California.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/tejon-ranch-mountain-lion-killings-probed.html