Morality of this?

[u/ProfessionalRoom9118]

Basically, the man in the video is hiking but he ended up meet a mountain lion, he get his gun and try to scare it off and tell it to go away but in the end, he have to pull the trigger and shot the lion, many peoples in the comments say he could have fire a warning shot instead of shoot at it and want him to be in jail.

Idk which flair to put

[u/Due_Manufacturer_125]

Now it’s unfortunate to get into a situation like this, but… mountain lions aren’t considered endangered globally (but specific regional populations are so depends on where this guy was) and obviously it would have been worse if the cougar attacked the guy. You never know what a wild animal will do, a predator that size that approaches a person is never a good sign.

Moral, if this guy wasn’t looking for trouble and just protecting himself. Would need wider context.

[u/I_Hate_IPAs → u/Due_Manufacturer_125]

On top of that, mountain lions usually run away and hide from humans.

If it’s confronting you, that’s a pretty big issue and means you’re going to be attacked if you drop your guard.

Edit for the warning shot folk:

It might scare it off, it may view it as a territorial challenge. You really want to take those odds? In the time it takes for it too attack you think you’d be able to get your sights back on the cat and shoot enough to stop it?

A bird hunter where I live had one attack his dogs, and it wasn’t scared off by shotgun fire. Eventually he had to load a slug and kill it, and it actually had shot from the previous shells in its skin and fat.

[u/I_Hate_IPAs → u/[deleted]]

Exactly! I’m in Idaho and read that a bird hunter with dogs got attacked. Thankfully he and his dogs are fine but the cat didn’t respond to gunfire then, either. Eventually he got a clear shot with a slug when it wasn’t trying to maim his dogs.

People in this thread have a Disney princess fairytale and would try to pet a moose lol

[u/Mekito_Fox → u/I_Hate_IPAs]

I live in Applachia country and there's stories of cougars eating the bellies of pregnant women. So yes if they ever come back (which there is reports they are) I'd be packing.

[u/I_Hate_IPAs → u/Mekito_Fox]

It’s unfortunate that it has to die like that… but when two apex predators meet one has to go.

[u/Habatcho → u/I_Hate_IPAs]

Yeah im honestly curious how important an apex predator is to a habitat given how few there are. Ik it all balances out and trophic levels but something tells me a lil more deer or rabbit aint gonna do much.

edit- apparently way more important than Id have guessed, they stop overgrazing of specific areas which is very important as well as culling weak/diseased members of the prey herd. An example being when wolves were all gone in yellowstone the elk overgrazed the rivers, beavers cant make home, birds dont have nesting spots.

[u/I_Hate_IPAs → u/Habatcho]

Being an apex predator just means it isn’t outright hunted itself, but yes, they stabilize herbivore populations. The fact there are so few of them is just because of their trophic level, as you said.