Colorado DOW kills second urban mountain lion
The Durango Herald has reported a second mountain lion was killed inside the city limits of Durango in the space of a week. The first lion leapt on a lawn mower while a 14 year old boy was mowing lawns in Cortez, CO. Officials say both cats were females between 1 and 2 years old. They surmise that the cats were littermates, after they had numerous sightings in the same neighborhoods.
I think this should raise awareness of just how people need to take into account life in the west living with apex predators.
SINAPU, a Society dedicated to co-existing with large carnivores and predators in the Southern Rockies has this column about being vigilant in mountain lion country.
It has some good suggestions that we should take to heart, but I find that these folks aren’t big fans of hunting to say the least. But at what point will they realize that large predators like lions who are territorial will often drive adolescent cats into suburban areas where they come into conflict with humans?
It is my firm belief that hunting mountain lions actively discourages these predators from considering humans as prey. And reducing the population of territorial males will reduce the number of adolecent cats driven into areas and situations where a human cat conflict will take place. In fact if you do a quick search of mountain lion attacks in the west, most attacks are perpetrated by sub-adult mountain lions rather than dominant, territorial adults.
Another factor is that game animals move into the subdivisions and the predators follow them. Reason? Lawns provide green forage, as well as suburban residents feeding wildlife. As homes impinge on wildlife habitat along the Rocky Mountain Front, more deer, elk and moose become city slickers, and the predators follow their prey into the yards and conflicts result.
I would hate to see the people of Colorado go down the same path as California and lose hunting as a management tool for their mountain lion population. If we maintain suitable habitat outside of cities for game animals, prevent more subdivision sprawl, and manage the predator population then we will see fewer human - lion encounters that requires killing non mature animals.
[...] MJC Rocks wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
July 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Good points. Even the route Oregon has gone (banning of dogs and bait for hunting cougars) has had a terrible effect on cougar populations - they’ve exploded and consequently, the deer and bighorn sheep populations have drastically decreased. Sad.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:20 am
I love the emails from hunters that mountain lions numbers must be controlled, they must be hunted, baited, use of dogs etc. The deer populations are hurting etc. It is a safety issue, blah, blah , blah… You don’t have any idea what you are talking about. Hunters kill deer, the mountain lions primary prey. While deer populations are high most places and low in others, you simply can’t blame mountain lions. If hunters did not kill another deer, you would see less of mountain lions, and they would control deer populations. When hunters, bounty and otherwise wiped mountain lions off the map in most states a century ago, there was nothing to control deer and populations exploded. So lets kill mountain lions in the states where they exist so you have more deer to kill? You can’t make up the stupidity of all this. Leave mountain lions alone, hunters should kill less deer, and you would have less mountain lion problems. But, hunters kill mountain lions too, and disrupt their territories. Then the young cougars wander into the wrong places, and they must be killed too. Man is terrible at managing wildlife. You good ol boys need to find another hobby, something that doesn’t kill an animal merely so you can thump your chest and stuff it for some kind of half assed decoration.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Bob,
Actually if you read my article I said a number of factors were responsible. One of which is habitat loss of the prey species, i.e., deer. As these deer become part of the suburbs, the predator species follow them. Hence an increase in human predator conflicts. I believe when you have a large predator in a community with a population density was 1,449.9 people per square mile, where over 25% of the population is under the age of 18, we have a public safety issue, as a result of wildlife management or lack thereof.
Bob, I have seen lionkilled prey and I have been within feet of a snarling mountain lion. It is a thrill and I treasure the experience. I think the mountain lion is a majestic and wonderful creature. However our growing population has had an effect on the predator-prey relationship in those regions and it is our responsibility to take an active role in their management.
Thank you for your comments.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:18 am
I wonder why it is that before someone can disagree with another persons assessment of wildlife management, they have to say things like, “you don’t know what you’re talking about” and then proceed to lay on all of us a diatribe of statements that lack any support through factual information.
John, I thought your assessment of the situation was quite balanced and actually accurate. You could have said we need to exterminate all the lions but you didn’t and you could have said that anyone who disagreed with you was a moron but you didn’t.
Bambi wildlife management only will work once man is removed from the equation. Like it or not we are a predator and top of the food chain, however, to make that statement some believe we only want to “kill an animal merely so you can thump your chest and stuff it for some kind of half assed decoration”.
There are none so blind as he who will not see and besides that if a hunter wanted to stuff his kill as a complete mount both halves of its ass would be mounted.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Science is on our side.
Any claim that “Man is terrible at managing wildlife” is a flat out lie. Learn the facts before stating emotionally charged false claims. Fact is man has managed to bring back populations of endangered animals and to good in most cases.
I hope Bob doesnt end up like the grizzly man, eaten by a animal, before he realizes that people are more important then animals.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
[...] Colorado DOW kills second urban mountain lion [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 12:12 pm