LAST EDITED ON Nov-29-10 AT 07:55PM (MST)[p]travis 30-06.
I don't believe a publication when it says how many lions, or deer for that matter, there are anywhere.
We can speculate all we want.
Here is what I do know.
When ungluates are counted, and a number is put up, it counts only adult deer, so there are actually more deer than are estimated, because you have to add in the fawns.
Also, when lions are concerned, the numbers vary widely from one estimate to the next. And very often those numbers INCLUDE young.
So if you include kittens, and say a lion kills a deer per week, then you have one female actually killing 3 per week to keep up with that average. If you only count the adult lions, then we are counting about 1/2 the deer being killed.
Lions also become accustomed to other forms of meat as they are available, such as horses, chukar, rabbits, etc.
Bottom line is lions are much more difficult to count, or at least estimate than deer. Lions will kill other lions, females that have dependent kittens gets killed, but the kittens immediately do not, and the kittens are then dead but not counted, etc.
Trying to quantify it is a long shot at best as to how many deer are actually eaten by lions.
I feel that we need a balance of making sure the habitat is acceptable to feed and protect the deer, and keep the carnivores at a level where they do not have a detrimental effect on them.
I also feel that just killing lions, or any other predator, by itself, will not help the deer, particularly if the habitat is in poor shape.
If we have poor habitat, and the deer are being saved from being eaten by lions, then all we did was put a bandaid on a gunshot wound. Because those deer that we "saved" will now die of starvation.
I just shot a lion Saturday. First lion I was able to get all of my dogs (a lot of young dogs) to. I killed my last one in January of 2009. This one was a small tom. I didn't kill it because I thought I was saving deer.
I did note, however, that since there were 1700 horses removed from the vicinity 2 years ago, that there is more water than there was two years ago, and I have seen a LOT more deer sign than I did 2 years ago. I did not hunt that area last winter at all. I also saw a lot more cottontail rabbit sign, and more bobcat tracks than the last time I hunted it.
Anyway, enough of my soap box.
Later,
Marcial