California to review protections for mountain lions

California wildlife regulators have voted to move forward on a proposal to give state Endangered Species Act protections to certain mountain lion populations.

The state Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously in favor of a petition to start a one-year review to determine whether six lion populations in Southern California and on the Central Coast should be formally protected.

The act’s protections apply during the study period. Currently, California’s mountain lions are not considered threatened or endangered. But they are legally classified as a “specially protected species."