• 27
  • May
    2011

The wrongful termination lawsuit of a former tour-guide at a California hunting ranch has the state Department of Fish and Game on the trail of possible illegal mountain lion killers. The case was brought to the state game officials' attention after an ex-employee of Tejon Ranch claimed the lions were being targeted by the company.

The lawsuit, filed in Kern County Superior Court in May, claims that a former five-year Tejon Ranch employee was wrongfully terminated for complaining about the mountain lion killings. In the suit, the ex-guide said Tejon had encouraged employees, and sometimes hunting guests, to shoot mountain lions for "special perks," claiming at least one guide killed more than 30 of the animals over several years.

The ranch charges hunters up to $10,000 to visit its mostly undeveloped 270,000-acre property to stalk and hunt wild game. The former employee said guides were instructed to shoot the cats and, if caught, claim that they "feared for their lives" in order to evade the laws that protect the animals.

Since 1991, mountain lions have come under California's legal protection. Killing one of the animals without a state permit is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a six-month prison term and a $1,000 fine. The only other legal way to kill a mountain lion is for personal or property protection.

The former Tejon Ranch guide said he was fired last December and has a filed a $500,000 lawsuit against the hunting ranch, in part for lost pay. Tejon Ranch denies the ex-guide's allegations and says the first they heard of the complaint was after the guide found out he was set to be terminated.

Source: Mercury News, "State probes claims of killings of mountain lions," The Associated Press, 14 May 2011