Can't believe the lack of interest this has generated. Here's a post from Jeff C over at the nugeboard, I thought he broke this down very well.
OOPS, when he posted it, his comments were bold,you can kinda figure out what is his , sorry
This article is drivin me nuts. I havent seen anything this fullapoop outside the AR movement for a long time. I have people mobilized in 4 states already. We need to hammer the moron that wrote thus POS and ABC for speading the stank. A few thoughts as I read it...
Colorado Cougar Cause
Wildlife Enthusiasts Join to Save Endangered Cougars
They're endangered? Thats news to me and western state wildlife departments!
By Bill Redeker
F T. C O L L I N S, Colo., Jan. 2
— Cougars, or mountain lions, once prowled across all 48 states in the continental United States. But their threat to livestock made them targets for ranchers and hunters.
Ancient history. The unregulated attempt to annihilate the cougar ended years ago. Whatcha got thats relative today?
Today, the big cats are extinct in the East and survive in only a dozen western states. They may soon become endangered here, too, where it is legal to hunt the animals. Rick Kahn, wildlife supervisor of Colorado's Division of Wildlife, says the number of mountain lions killed by hunters has doubled in the last 20 years.
If they become "endangered" it won’t be from regulated hunting. If the harvest cannot sustain double that of 20 years ago they had better fire their wildlife managers
While he admitted there was no way of knowing the exact number of cougars in Colorado, he estimated about 4,000 of the cats live in the Rocky Mountain range.
That's a lot of cats given the amount of room they need... the wide ranging, territorial critters they are
"I think we're harvesting in the range of 300 to 400 animals a year," he said. "We have a quota system and we try to manage our mountain lion population."
They 'try' to manage them?!! Fire the personnel they have and hire professionals that 'will' manage them responsibly and sustainably.
Population maintenance is important because as suburban sprawl encroaches upon the cougars' once expansive territory, the introduction of people to the wild animals can have fatal consequences.
No argument from me on that point.
According to a New York Times report, human attacks on people average about four a year. Since 1890, mountain lions have killed 17 people, 11 of them children, in the United States and Canada.
The NY Times?!! Well, the NY Times even as the wildlife experts they are [sarcasm] must have missed the part where most of those kills have been in the past couple decades.
In Arizona, the cougars' purported role in the decline of a reintroduced bighorn sheep population prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to grant the Arizona Game and Fish Department permission to proceed with the killing of up to 36 cougars over the next three years.
It's called responsible wildlife management and restoring balance for the good and health of all affected species. What do they want cougars or sheep? Left to their own we have cougars. Manage the resource and we have both. I choose the latter.
In many western states, the fear of livestock losses due to prowling mountain lions is a major concern. Ranchers fear financial shortfalls if mountain lions hunt in the areas where their livestock graze.
They can be very destructive if they are not managed properly. But thanks to regulated hunting, lethal controls and payment programs the losses are minimal and we have healthy cougar pops to enjoy
Goodall to the Rescue
Rescue of what? Responsible, science based wildlife management preformed by professionals?
Nevertheless, wildlife champion Jane Goodall, best known for her pioneering work with African chimpanzees, has just taken up the cougar conservation cause. She says it doesn't matter how many cougars are believed to be in the wild, they should all be protected as they are in California.
It doesn’t matter how many are in the wild, they have to be protected? Good thing she didn’t come rescue deer, elk and rats!
"It was only recently that I realized that mountain lions were being shot. I naively thought that, like in California, they were protected and to hear that they were shot by hunters with dogs, I just find this completely terrible."
So what? Responsible wildlife management has included lethal controls through regulated hunting since the time wildlife management was invented... by hunters no less! We were the 1st conservationists and no animal has ever been reduced to extinction or put on the endangered list because of regulated hunting. Period.
Hunting the elusive animals is not all that sporting. Professional trackers use dogs to stalk and trap the cats in trees. Hunters, sometimes days later, simply show up, take aim, and fire.
We are talking about the health and future of the species. Hunting techniques are beside the point. But professional game managers will tell you that hounds are the most effective tool that can be used to manage them since they can be very selective regards to the age and sex of the animals culled. Btw, 'take aim' is a good point to made; they are killed humanely with a well-placed, unhurried shot. But if she wants me to shoot them over bait, I'll do that too.
Colorado issues about 700 cougar hunting permits a year. Some trackers earn thousands of dollars for their services.
Again, this is beside the point. But duck, elk and deer guides get paid plenty too, so what? What's your point?
It is also perfectly legal to kill a mother cougar while she is raising her young. That has incensed wildlife enthusiasts, especially renowned photographer Thomas Mangelson. "We don't shoot elk in the spring that have calves, we don't shoot moose that have calves, we don't shoot deer that have fawns, we don't shoot anything except cougars."
I don’t know where they allow females with spotted kittens to be killed, or where there is a spring season. This is another reason hounds are a good choice. Get them up a tree and don’t shoot females. Problem solved (if there was one)
Mangelson, whose spectacular photographs capture animals in the wild, spent 42 days staking out a mother cougar and her offspring near Jackson, Wyo., two years ago.
"It was the first time I'd ever seen one of these magnificent cats," he said. "They are extremely reclusive and incredibly protective of their offspring."
But once word got out that a family of cougars was in the area, the state of Wyoming proposed doubling the cougar quota.
What? Musta been close to town and a safety issue. I hear they are 'incredibly protective of their offspring." But I'd like to hear the State of WY side of this one
That incident so incensed Mangelson that he recruited Goodall and created The Cougar Fund to educate the public.
Educate them about what? Their numbers are healthy, they are in no danger from any of the regulated hunting referenced in this article.
"I really hope before it's too late in this country that the mountain lions will be protected," said Goodall. "This is supposed to be the land of the free and it should be free for the beautiful mountain lions as well."
If she wants to ensure lions for the future she should get off the backs of hunters and responsible state wildlife management professionals and work for a habitat cause because that is the largest danger these critters (and most critters) face: Habitat loss. This is America, not some 3rd world, backwards country. We have been managing our game for many years and have proven ourselves to be the world leaders in conservation.
This bright idea came about after there was no other way to deny the existance of these predators here. For years, these "game biologists" denied the existance of cougars here. You see, people that reported sightings and had other evidence of the big cats were just seeing domestic housecats out and about. 