Despite the ignorant cries of "animal killers" and worse directed at Morgan Hill police officers who shot and killed a mountain lion cub near Hale Avenue in a suburban back yard earlier this month, we firmly believe officers acted appropriately. We're joined in that assessment by officials from the California Department of Fish and Game.

How would the police officers' critics have responded if a cornered mountain lion had maimed or killed a small child? Clearly, criticism would have rained down upon the police in that scenario as well.

And it's not an unlikely scenario. The Hale Avenue incident and another in Southern California in which a mountain lion killed one bicyclist and severely injured another occurred within a few months of one another. They have spotlighted an unintended consequence of a well-intentioned but not well-thought out proposition that has been in effect for more than 14 years: Due to Prop. 117, mountain lion hunting is illegal.

As a result, there are no real predators to keep the mountain lion population in check. An adult male mountain lion uses up to 100 square miles for his home hunting range. As populations have grown, mountain lions have been forced to encroach more and more into California's populated areas to find sufficient hunting territory. Further, after nearly 15 years of no threats from humans, mountain lions have lost their fear of their main predator.

According to the California Department of Fish and Game, the mountain lion population in the state has likely tripled since the 1970s. Clearly, something must be done about the situation - for the sake of humans and mountain lions.

South Valley is surrounded by sparsely populated foothills and mountains that make ideal mountain lion habitat. It behooves us to find ways to control the threat that mountain lions pose to human safety and overpopulation poses to the cats themselves before more people are hurt or killed or mountain lions starve.

We urge Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to order and fund an immediate DFG study to determine what hunting practices would best ease mountain lion overpopulation and still protect the long-term viability of these wild cats. The proposal should be forwarded to the Legislature. If our elected representatives find the idea of limited, controlled mountain lion hunting too politically incorrect to approve, the governor should use his considerable star power to convince Californians of the plan's wisdom through a voter-approved proposition.

Both the people and the wild cats of California deserve a mountain lion management plan that is both well-intentioned and well-thought out - unlike what we have now as a result of Prop. 117.