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Show ka Preditor Education Fund: Mismanagement and Slaughter of Utah's Mountain Lions by the fact that even though hunters prefer male trophies, more females and subadults are being killed instead. added to last years legal hunt kill of 576 cats, the total mortality becomes 668 or 40 percent of the state's cougar population - four times the rate to maintain a healthy population. Pressure from livestock groups, hunters Now, an organization called The Predator and rural Utah legislators has kept constant Education Fund is reporting that the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the pressure on the lay Wildlife Board appointed U tah's mountain lions are being hunted in such large numbers that the popula- tion of big cats could be in real trouble, seen Wildlife Board, which sets hunting limits, are not managing cougars within the law. According to a recent Predator Education Fund report, DWR is not managing the by Gov. Mike Leavitt to set hunting limits. The legal kill between 1990 and 1996 went from 217 to 596. In the report, Robinson and Axford cite research showing that of those mountain lions mountain lion population "sustainably" as is killed, no more mandated by Utah law. The report says that the killing rate of cougars has risen from 13 females, ifa population is to be sustained. But last season, 49 percent of the big cats legally than 40 percent should percent of the population to 34 percent in killed were females. ¢ GRAMICCI + ROYAL + WOOLRICH (AND FOR MEN ROBBINS MORE) & WOMEN be If slightly less than half of those females the last eight years. In turn, that has led to an EXPRESS YOURSELF THIS SUMMER WITH SPORTSWEAR BY 518 Historic Main © Park City, Utah & Jackson Hole Wyoming 801-645-9427 KILL TOTAL 217 265 241 % OF POPULATION 13% 16% 14% 1992-93 372 22% 1993-94 1994-95 352 431 21% 26% 1995-96 452 27% 1996-97 576 34% and have young kittens, as is the norm, then a sig- subadults between 12 and 24 months of age. nificagt amount of young, perhaps as many as 216 kittens, died of starvation during the winter hunting season. "Obviously, a population of cougars will not be sustained unless adequate numbers of kittens are being pro- increasing kill rate of adult females These numbers are important argue Kirk Robinson and Craig Axford because accord- ing to accepted scientific models, the mountain lion population can not sustain under these conditions. "It is inappropriate for DWR itself duced yearly and are surviving to reproduc- and the Wildlife Board to allow removal of members of a species in excess of what the species can resupply from its own resources through reproduction," they state in the report. " the ongoing cougar management in Utah is not sustainable and is in fact doing serious harm to cougar populations." Cougars are hunted in the wintertime tive age,” the report states. What the high number of females killed also indicates, is that hunters are not finding as many males, the preferred quarry. The indication being that during the last five hunting seasons, the male cougars have been overhunted. Now the female cougars are being overhunted. "When adult cougars are ADVENTURE DESIGNS FROM JACKSON lt so Here! [His] Weekly www.slweekly.com excessively with dogs, sometimes outfitted with radio collars. Hunters follow behind on snowmobiles or ATVs and usually shoot the big cats after they are cornered chased up a tree. Based on DWR's population estimate that 1,674 huntable cougars - those over 12 months slaughtered, all classes of cougars are adversely affected: there will be fewer kittens born the following year; fewer kittens now living will survive to subadulthood; and there are few adults, since the adult males have already been largely extirpated and now the adult old - reside in Utah, the 1996-97 cougar hunt females are being overhunted took 34 percent of the population. That is up from 13 percent during the 1989-90 season. Pointing to accepted scientific theories, Robinson and Axford say that all sources of human mortality on a cougar population should not exceed 10 percent to keep a sustainable population. But when poaching and other deaths are report states. @ as well," the Anyone interested in learning more about the Predator Education Fund can write to or call: Predator Education Fund 801-575-7101 165 S. Main St./Lower Level Salt Lake City, UT 84111 HOLE eee (Formerly The Private Eye Weekly) €l IDVd ° SAWIL NIVLNNOW YEAR 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 |