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TUCSON, ARIZONA -- It was, after all, a dispute over only two to four mountain lions, a fraction of the approximately 300 killed in the state each year. The Arizona Game and Fish Department had planned to hunt down lions it believed were threatening people in the suburban foothills north of Tucson. But the ill-starred effort may lead to some changes in how the state manages mountain lions across Arizona.
The battleground was the Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area, where one of Tucson's few perennial streams cascades through cottonwood, willow and ash trees at the base of Mount Lemmon. Lions, long known to spend time in the canyon, had started appearing much more often than usual, and Game and Fish officials surmised that they had lost their fear of humans, and could attack.
Lions were reported strolling into yards and crossing paved roads; they were said to be caterwauling in one resident's front yard, and fearlessly staring at people -- even stalking pedestrians, according to Game and Fish officials. Department agents...