Mountain Lion Management In The Crosshairs

By Chester Moore

Mountain lions are some of the most cunning predators on the planet.

Scientists have documented them making 45-foot running vertical jumps, and cats weighing only 150 pounds can take down prey as large as a bull elk. These skills garner the big cats much respect from hunters and other wildlife enthusiasts, making them doubly important to factor into any wildlife management equation.

Lions can become wild sheep-hunting specialists and decimate populations stressed by disease and drought. Hunting and trapping have been proven factors in mountain lion management, but now they are at the epicenter of attacks launched by activist groups.
 
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is now accepting public comments on proposed changes to cougar hunting seasons. The proposals are a direct result of a petition filed last year by the Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Mountain Lion Foundation, and Washington Wildlife First. If adopted, according to WDFW officials, the proposed rule would create a September 1 to March 31 season (cutting out April), cap the population management unit (PMU) at 13 percent using a specific statewide density, and include all known human-caused cougar mortalities to determine when to close a PMU during the season. 
 
On the eastern fringe of desert bighorn sheep range, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) Commission officials (TPWD) in May adopted regulations pertaining to mountain lions for the first time in history.
 
Lone Star State lions have been considered varmints, and in a state that is 97 percent privately owned, their management was, for the most part, at the landowner's discretion. An unusual regulation has been enacted to ban the "canned hunting" of mountain lions, which is defined as releasing lions for the purpose of hunting. There has been no evidence of this practice taking place, but it is now the centerpiece of the state's new regulations and is the headline grabbed by most media outlets about the situation. A quick Web search showed numerous animal rights groups telling members to comment on banning the "canned" mountain lion hunts in Texas. There is also a change in trapping standards.
 

"Texas does not require traps set for mountain lions to be checked. Concerns have been raised that some mountain lions are left to perish in traps, which many consider to be inhumane and potentially damaging to the reputation of trapping and hunting," reported TPWD in its initial press release on the proposal. The new regulation requires trappers to ensure that lions are not kept alive in traps or snares for more than 36 hours.

 
TPWD reported they provide a blanket exemption to the 36-hour requirement for traps that have a breakaway device allowing a cable snare to disassemble when subjected to a force of 285 pounds. 
 
"Mountain lions can likely pull with 285 pounds of force or more. Conversely, coyotes typically can pull on snares with only 192-250 pounds of force."

Several livestock owners and wildlife managers who target coyotes are concerned about the legal ramifications of a mountain lion getting caught in one of their coyote traps.  TPWD Commissioners additionally, at the hearing, asked the department to look into requiring mandatory harvest reports for mountain lions.

Carnivore management is the soft underbelly of the North American hunting community. What is happening now is likely just the beginning and will impact game animals.
 
As previously mentioned, mountain lions have a penchant for specializing in sheep when the opportunity arises. This has been documented as far back as the 1990s, when The Canadian Journal of Zoology published a study on cougar predation on bighorn sheep in Alberta. Researchers noted that cougar predation on bighorn sheep appears to be primarily an individual, developed behavior. For example, one female killed nine percent of the entire population in the study area and 26 percent of the lambs over a single winter.
 
For mountain-dwelling ungulates that occur in small groups, the presence of one or a few individual specialist predators may strongly and unpredictably influence demography and behavior."
 
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (NAR) in southeastern Oregon has seen significant impacts from cougars in recent years. According to the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), since 2017, the California bighorns on Hart Mountain NAR have decreased from more than 150 to fewer than 50.
 
"In 2019 and 2020, hair snares and camera traps indicated 12-16 individual cougars were patrolling the bighorn sheep habitat on Hart Mountain NAR. From 2004-2008, researchers found cougar predation or probable cougar predation accounted for 63 percent of the mortalities."
 
The Hart Mountain NAR initiated cougar removals in 2022, and WSF officials responded with $100,000 Grant-In-Aid Funding to assist with removing cougars in rugged terrain.
 
When restrictions are put on predator management, they are rarely lifted. A tactic of animal activists is to circle back in a few years and push further. A case in point is Colorado's recent ballot biology vote to force Colorado Parks & Wildlife to restore gray wolves being followed by a move on mountain lions and bobcats.
 
A group called "Cats Aren't Trophies," along with many other groups, is pushing forward a ballot initiative to ban all mountain lion and bobcat hunting in Colorado. According to Coloradoans for Responsible Wildlife Management, the issue has escalated with Proposed Initiative 91, which aims to strip away the very foundation of science-based wildlife management. 
 
"By doing so, it seeks to deprive Colorado's Wildlife Managers and the sporting community of their rights to manage, pursue, and harvest these well-regulated species."
 

You don’t have to be a certified public accountant to pass laws affecting the economy, nor does it take a biology degree to decide whether it is socially unacceptable to allow recreational shooting of mountain lions chased and cornered by packs of dogs. Same for deciding whether to allow trapping, skinning and selling unlimited numbers of Colorado bobcats to China and Russia to make them into luxury items. – Cats Aren’t Trophies

 
Wildlife stewards cannot manage snowfall in Alaska or drought in Nevada, and due to funding limitations and political wrangling, they can't always manage large-scale habitat issues. Predators, which are taking advantage of these situations, that put dramatic pressure on sheep and other ungulates, can be managed effectively. 

No one from the hunting community suggests eliminating mountain lions or other carnivores, but they certainly need science-based management that factors in their future and that of the animals they kill for a living. 
 
(The public may submit comments online on the Washington regulation proposals by emailing 2024cougarseasonsetting@publicinput.com, calling 1-855-925-2801 and entering project code 1261, or mailing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Wildlife Program, P.O. Box 43200, Olympia, WA 98504.)
 

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Contributing Author: Chester Moore is an award-winning wildlife journalist and lifelong hunter from Texas. He operates the Higher Calling Wildlife® blog and podcast and contributes to many outdoors publications.