Center for Biological Diversity: SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Fish and Game Commission granted permanent protections today to Southern California and Central Coast mountain lions under the state Endangered Species Act.

This is a major milestone for a California icon,” said Tiffany Yap, D.Env./Ph.D., urban wildlands science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Mountain lions are a marvel but too many across the Golden State are struggling in the diminished and fractured wild places where they live. This state isn’t willing to stand back and watch our precious wildlife vanish forever. I’m celebrating this vote as a new chapter for pumas and I hold so much hope for their future.”