Mountain Lion Foundation

Cougar Comment Cougar Comment is the editorial voice of the Mountain Lion Foundation. Title: Twisting Science Date: 7/19/2010 Source: Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Seven years ago, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks (SDGF&P) presented the world with their version of a mountain lion management plan. In that plan was the proposal for an "experimental" mountain lion hunting season. They justified this action as "just another step in the evolution of responsible mountain lion management," and because it "would communicate to some people that mountain lions are being managed responsibly." Now, five hunting seasons later, SDGF&P is kowtowing to special interest hunting groups and proposing a new mountain lion management plan where the recreational hunting of lions is no longer considered as experimental, but is the cornerstone of their entire management program. Granted at first look the new plan ... For the full blog... Title: Ignorance or Conspiracy? Date: 6/29/2010 Source: Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Recently a small town newspaper in Mendocino County (California) published a personal rant by their "sports columnist" against the citizen-placed ballot initiative, Proposition 117, which voters passed twenty years ago this month. In his article the author, who passes himself off as "someone in the know," misstates just about everything there is to know about mountain lions in general, and about California's experience with mountain lions in particular. Every point he makes, (and there are several) is calculated not to apprise the public, but to strike fear in the uninformed and generate opposition to the 20-year old ban on hunting mountain lions in California for fun. According to this so-called "expert," up to 20,000 mountain lions are romping around the state ... For the full blog... Title: Wyoming Makes Mountain Lions the Scapegoats Again! Date: 6/21/2010 Source: Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Tomorrow (June 22nd) is the final day the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is accepting written comments on their proposed 2010-11 Mountain Lion Hunting Regulations. Unfortunately, the new regulations are a misguided attempt to placate a small, but vocal, special interest group (deer hunters), and have no chance of achieving their attended goal. It appears that, like in most of the western states, Wyoming's mule deer herd was significantly larger twenty years ago. Human obstruction in historic migratory deer routes, a severe multi-year drought, radical changes to deer habitat vegetation, and excessive periods of over-hunting have all done their part in reducing many of the regional mule deer populations to half of what they were in 1992. Now, despite the Department ... For the full blog... Title: California's Proposition 117 - Twenty Years Later Date: 6/7/2010 Source: Staff Author: Amy Rodrigues Twenty years ago, California voters passed Proposition 117--the Mountain Lion Initiative. Also known as the "People's Initiative" because it was the first statewide initiative in California to qualify for the ballot strictly through the efforts of unpaid volunteers, Proposition 117: * Changed the classification of mountain lions in California from game mammals to "Specially Protected Mammals," * banned the practice of killing mountain lions in California for fun, and * directed the California State legislature to allocate a minimum of $30 million annually for thirty years towards the acquisition of critical habitat for all of the state's wildlife. While some might consider Proposition 117 as a complete reversal of positions--California had been res ... For the full blog... Title: Fear Factor Date: 5/28/2010 Source: Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Several news reports came out of Wisconsin last week about the presence of a cougar in that state. Unfortunately, this "verified" sighting--only the fourth since the species was extirpated in 1908--came with a slight twist. The cougar in question also reportedly attacked and injured a one-year-old heifer calf. This incident, the first of its kind in Wisconsin in over a hundred years, now raises the question of what to do with the offending animal. One Wisconsin biologist and lion researcher, who is helping the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources develop a plan for dealing with these magnificent creatures, believes that this particular cougar--if guilty of the crime accused--must be killed. His justifications for this opinion came with the statement that "the most important ... For the full blog... Title: Is Nothing Sacred in South Dakota? Date: 5/17/2010 Source: Staff Author: Tim Dunbar The South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department (SDGF&P) recently held a series of public meetings to assist in developing that state's upcoming mountain lion hunting plan. In addition, "input" cards were freely distributed at each of the meetings to anyone who wanted to comment. One of the issues under discussion was whether or not to allow the hunting of mountain lions for recreational purposes in Custer State Park. Apparently 355 people responded on this issue with (according to SDGF&P) the "vast majority" supporting the concept. I understand that South Dakota doesn't actually have a lot of people living there. Only 812,383 according to the US Census Bureau, or to put it in perspective, slightly more people live in the entire state of South Dakota than reside within th ... For the full blog... Title: Choices Date: 5/10/2010 Source: Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Sometimes the choices one makes can have far reaching ramifications. This has never been truer than with what happened a few weeks ago to a young mountain lion mother and her two "teenage" cubs in South Dakota. Apparently the mother lion and her two cubs denned up for a short time near a typically large-acreage suburban/rural style housing development. This particular spot would have been especially enticing to them because of the abundant food supply--keep in mind teenagers eat a lot! Then while behaving naturally and killing a deer (their natural prey source), an unprotected goat was spotted just on the other side of a backyard fence, and it too was added to the menu. Unfortunately (for the lions) it was easier for them to get over the fence than it was to bring back their dinne ... For the full blog... Title: Those Who Cannot Remember the Past Date: 5/3/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar It seems that members of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission are unfamiliar with the old saying "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Just twelve years ago, angry hunters appeared before the Commission to complain about too many lions being killed. They demanded the quota be drastically cut so there would be something left for them to hunt in the future. At the time, the 1998 mountain lion hunting harvest had reached an all time high (in 108-years of record keeping) of 827--a totally unsustainable mortality number for the species in Montana. Now it seems the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission (FWPC) has an extremely short memory. At their last meeting, the Commission approved the 2010-11 mountain lion hunting quotas. The ne ... For the full blog... Title: Just Saying it, Doesn't Make it True Date: 4/26/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Hunters enjoy using their mantra about being the "true" conservationists. This statement, which clearly demonstrates a divisive us vs. them attitude, keeps showing up in news statements, interviews and hunter blogs. It is something they tell themselves over and over again as if saying it often enough will make the statement true. But that won't happen! Hunters, as a group, are no more, or less, conservationists than any other American who uses or is interested in this country's wildlife resources. What hunters are, is an extremely vocal special interest group that kills animals. They pay user fees and sales taxes on their hobby's equipment purchases. But paying those expenses no more makes someone a conservationist than paying for a driver's license and buying gas makes one a Texa ... For the full blog... Title: Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing Date: 4/19/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Recently, there was a news article where the author reported an increase from 4 to 11 mountain lion sightings in San Mateo County (California) during the first three months of this year. While the story was fairly balanced and not actually "anti-lion," in nature, it was unfortunately the type of account which can also be considered inciting, with its suggestion in the title that the increase in sightings "could portend a potential problem." The problem with this assumption is that mountain lion sightings are tricky things. First, the number of sightings should never be misconstrued as being the actual number of lions residing within a state or region. A single mountain lion has the potential of being seen multiple times as it travels throughout its territory of 100-plus s ... For the full blog... Title: A Second Chance Date: 4/12/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar On Monday, April 5th, Governor Dave Heineman signed into law Legislative Bill 836, and Nebraska proudly took its place alongside several western states--including California--who believe that acceptable livestock management practices include having the government kill offending wildlife predators at the taxpayer's expense. It is too bad that a state, whose mountain lion population possibly numbers somewhere in the teens, lets unwarranted fear dictate their wildlife management policies. Nobody likes to see, or is advocating the violent death of beloved pets or other domestic animals. In fact, for the past eight years MLF with its Living with Lions program has done its best to protect domestic animals and reduce the potential for human/mountain lion conflicts--and with fairly succes ... For the full blog... Title: Crossing the Line! Date: 4/2/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar America was founded on the concept that government, any form of government--state, federal, whatever--must be based on the consent of the governed. Arizona has provisions within its governmental processes for those "governed" to be able to voice their opinions and enact legislation they deem necessary for the well being of themselves and their fellow citizens. Unfortunately, their elected representatives do not appear to believe in this constitutional right. In 2000, those representatives placed on the ballot legislation that (if passed) would have thereafter required a two-thirds vote for the passage of any wildlife measure. Strangely, this restriction on the rights of the governed only pertained to wildlife measures--nothing else. Arizona voters overwhelmingly rejected that blat ... For the full blog... Title: A plague on both their houses! Date: 3/26/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar The latest controversy about Texans and wildlife, centers on the American buffalo, and the carnage a man with a gun can make when his societal values and attitudes towards animals are out of sync with modern America. In this instance, a ranch foreman in West Texas got irritated over the neighbor's buffalo herd wandering onto the wrong property, and over the course of a few days shot 51 of the animals and left their carcasses to rot under the hot Texas sun. If this had occurred almost anywhere else, the man might now be facing charges of animal cruelty. But in Texas, buffaloes are classified as indigenous animals so they enjoy none of the protections of pets or livestock, and it may prove to be legal to shoot them once they are off their owner's property. What the ranch f ... For the full blog... Title: Running Scared: Why Does SDGF&P Fear Mountain Lion Protection Advocates Date: 3/19/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar A recent review of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks' (SDGF&P) website led to an unexpected discovery. In the section titled "Mountain Lions in South Dakota" there are a series of links to associated web pages and the following notification. "Authorized use - The public is hereby authorized to view the information available on this web site for informational purposes only. This data is the property of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. No part of the data appearing on this website may be used (including but not limited to use in publications and/or presentations), redistributed, copied or reproduced in any form, without the prior written consent of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Any use, redistribution, copying or re ... For the full blog... Title: Where's the beef? Date: 3/11/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar They're all lining up--ranchers, hunters, state legislators, even the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)--to bitch about how Measure 18 (a 1994 citizen-placed initiative which bans the use of hounds while hunting cougars for sport) is ruining the state and putting the citizenry of Oregon at risk. But where's the beef? The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's records clearly show that cougar hunters are killing, on average, 68 percent more cougars each year than they were prior to the passage of Measure 18. What's really happened is ODFW raised the expectation and subsequently disappointment levels of thousands of Oregon cougar hunters to unprecedented levels, then sat back and watched while pro-hunting pundits, and back-country yahoos bitched, complained, and used ... For the full blog... Title: Lions, Tigers, and Bears -- Oh My! Date: 3/5/2010 Source: Cougar Corner Author: Tim Dunbar While the Mountain Lion Foundation's mission is to protect America's lions, from time to time other species warrant our concern as well. Such is the case with bears in California. The California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) has proposed new hunting guidelines for bears which are not only egregious, but can easily be viewed as a preview of what could happen to mountain lions in California if the anti-hunting provisions of Proposition 117 are ever overturned. CDFG wants to increase the number of bears killed for "sport" to 2,000 each year; allow the use of GPS monitored hounds to chase and tree the terrified creatures until such time as a "hunter" (if that is even an apt description in this case) shows up to shoot them; expand the legal hunting areas to include new counties, s ... For the full blog... Title: Starting Down a Slippery Slope - Say No to Nebraska's Legislative Bill 747 Date: 1/28/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Like most Midwestern states, Nebraska extirpated (killed off) its resident mountain lion population before the turn of the Century--that's the 19th Century. For more than ninety years there were no confirmed sightings of these magnificent creatures until, in November of 1991, a young sub-adult female was spotted and shot by a deer hunter in Sioux County. Since then there have been 93 confirmed sightings (not the number of actual lions, just evidence that one had been in the area--tracks, trail camera photos, etc.) which resulted in Nebraskans killing at least eight of those lions spotted. To date, there have been no recorded incidents in Nebraska where mountain lions have threatened, attacked, or killed any humans, pets or livestock. Despite the lack of any evidence demon ... For the full blog... Title: California's lions are "Special" creatures! Date: 1/8/2010 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar With the passage of Proposition 117 in 1990, California voters changed the status of mountain lions in that state from game animal to "Specially Protected Mammal". One might think such a designation would mean special treatment and protection for these magnificent creatures-NOT SO! Even today, almost twenty-years after that initiative's passage, approximately 100 mountain lions are killed in California each year from trying to cross the numerous freeways which bisect their territories; for eating domestic animals which are left unprotected outside at night; for innocently wandering into developed areas while looking for new territories; for the hundred or more different reasons lions run afoul of mankind while trying to live in the steadily declining space we leave them to survive ... For the full blog... Title: He walked 800-miles just to be killed! Date: 12/29/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar On December 14, 2009, Raymond Goebels Jr., a 47-year old deer hunter from Cedar Rapids, shot a non-threatening mountain lion out of a tree near the town of Marengo, Iowa. If the experts are correct, the young, dispersing adult lion Mr. Goebels killed had traveled at least 800-miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota before crossing the path of a man who wanted to kill something . . . anything. Since it is not illegal to kill lions in Iowa at this time, Mr. Goebels felt justified, even triumphant in killing the scared, helpless animal. Many decry the number of laws which are in existence in America today. There are even commercials making fun of ones which are outdated, possibly even a little silly when considered in modern terms or conditions-but it is because of hunters like M ... For the full blog... Title: Oregon's Measure 18 Threatened Again! Date: 10/27/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar No longer satisfied with sitting back and letting the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the state legislature gut Measure 18's minimal cougar protection measures, pro-lion hunting proponents in Oregon are now circulating petitions to repeal the 1994 citizen-placed initiative. Citing too many cougars in the state, "people fearing for the safety of their children," * and a bad opening day hunt for mule deer as justification for their actions, this small, special interest group wants to re-allow the use of hounds while hunting cougars for sport. What these "sportsmen" really want is to turn back the clock so they can achieve their trophy kills with the minimum amount of sweat and effort. The standard practice for hound-hunting - which Measure 18 restricted - is to lo ... For the full blog... Title: They Just Don't Get it! Date: 9/17/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar Jack Husted, the newest member of Arizona's Game and Fish Commission is a perfect example of what is wrong with most state wildlife commissions. In a recent commission hearing Mr. Husted voiced "trepidation about the ultimate goal or ultimate desire of some of these organizations that expound on the wonderful things in a non-hunter environment." That is the crux of the matter. Most state wildlife commissions address the world in terms of Hunter versus Non-hunter viewpoints and automatically dismiss any non-hunting perspective as being flights of fancy unworthy of consideration-or possibly worse, alarm. What's more they and their hunter constituents believe that they are the only ones who should have a say in the matter because inevitably the commissions and their accompa ... For the full blog... Title: Lightning Strikes Twice Date: 9/10/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar A young lion is alive today thanks to the offshoot of an idea started by the late Rocky Spencer. Dr. Spencer, who died in September of 2007 while performing his duties as a biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), introduced the use of Karelian bear dogs as part of a WDFW non-lethal wildlife control project. Though initially used solely to help discourage bears from wandering back into human-occupied areas, the dogs have now been used at least twice (Okanogan County in March 2009 and in Seattle in September 2009) in what the department calls the "Hard Release" of cougars. A Hard Release is where instead of just euthanizing the animal, the cougar is captured, given a medical evaluation, fitted with a GPS-collar and released back into the wild. The "Hard" ... For the full blog... Title: In The End, It's The Cougars Who Will Pay For Credit Card Reform Date: 8/20/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar I had just finished reading about the new credit card law which takes affect today, when I received a call from a Mountain Lion Foundation member. She was contacting all the organizations whom she supports to remind them of the amendment Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) attached to that particular bill-an amendment which now overturns a Reagan-Era ruling banning visitors to National Parks, and wildlife refuges from carrying loaded weapons. President Reagan-who, as Governor, placed a moratorium on hunting mountain lions in California-enacted the loaded weapons ban in 1983 to help stop the poaching of wildlife in areas where they should be safe. By making it illegal to carry loaded weapons in National Parks and wildlife refuges, Rangers had a some-what effective tool to help identify an ... For the full blog... Title: How do you manage lions? Date: 8/11/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar I recently received an e-mail response to the blog (Are deer being used as a Beard* to kill more cougars?.) Using Oregon and Washington as exemplary examples of state wildlife agencies which manage cougars, the writer wished that "MLF would let the [state] Fish and Game Departments do their job". He also felt that the Mountain Lion Foundation should follow the example set by two organizations he belonged to (the Mule Deer Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) and support the scientific management of the species we are named after. In other words - promote the sport hunting of mountain lions for purposes of game management. His request brought to mind a statement made at a public workshop a short while back by a representative ... For the full blog... Title: Are deer being used as a Beard* to kill more cougars? Date: 7/27/2009 Source: MLF Staff Author: Tim Dunbar It doesn't seem to matter what state it is; hunters go into one game commission hearing after another spouting the same nonsense over and over again. It's like a mantra-kill more lions so we will have more deer to kill ourselves. They don't listen to the experts from their own state wildlife agencies who claim that mountain lions are unlikely culprits when it comes to determining why deer populations are down. They refuse to believe that loss of winter range to development of homes and subdivisions, more roads and a growing human population has a greater impact on wildlife than cougars. All they see are reduced mule deer populations, and of course reduced opportunities to kill a deer themselves; and they blame it all on the lions. Take Nevada for example; where ... For the full blog... Next Page >>

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