I don't think that anyone in this thread has suggested hunting the cats to extinction. The point is that as their numbers rise, the risk of attack or property loss to these animals grows substantially. As others have said, they are losing their fear of man, which I hope you can see is a bad thing.
I apologize if I hurt somebody's feelings. But I think that myself and my own are much more important than a cougar. If I saw the world's last panda attacking my wife/son/friend/other, and I had a rifle in my hand I wouldn't hesitate for one second to drop the bear.
Would you not do the same???????????
Stinger