On this weeks episode I am joined by Michelle Blake from the Mountain Lion Foundation to talk Cougar conservation in Southern California. We discuss human-wildlife conflicts, the irrational fear around mountain lions, depredation permits and the importance of these awesome cats with respect to their role in the habits that they live in.  For more info on mountain lion conservation be sure to check out mountainlion.org. **Note of Correction** at some point in the podcast, Michelle refers to ESU as standing for "ecologically significant unit." She later informed me that ESU actually stands for "Evolutionary Significant Unit." It's all good.