>I have wondered about the mountain
>lion issue for quite some
>time. Several years ago I
>reviewed the then current state
>management plan and it estimated
>that we had somewhere around
>3,000 lions in the state.
> See page 13-14 (
https://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/cmgtplan.pdf)
> I also read a
>bunch of the supporting literature.
> Assuming the literature is
>correct and a mature mountain
>lion will kill on average
>one mule deer per week,
>that means that we may
>be losing well over 100,000
>deer per year to lions.
> That is mind blowing
>when you consider that hunters
>are only harvesting 30,000 to
>35,000 deer per year and
>our deer herds at that
>time totaled around 350,000.
>
>So what do we do about
>this problem? Have any
>of you attended a RAC
>of WB meeting when the
>lion hunters come out?
>They are a passionate group
>and they certainly should have
>a voice on the issue.
> When you talk to
>lion hunters, they claim that
>the lions are already over
>hunted and it is difficult
>to find a mature lion.
> What is the truth
>when it comes to lion
>numbers in the state of
>Utah adn their impact on
>our deer herds?
>
>Where do ranchers fall on this
>issue? My guess is
>they would also like to
>see a reduction in the
>number of cougars. This
>may be an issue where
>we can work together with
>ranchers.
>
>Lots of unanswered questions.
>
>-Hawkeye-
Jason, I appreciate your candor and willingness to look at this issue without giving the silent treatment or false accusations we've seen here.
To begin with, it's a general view of most wildlife biologists that cougars do, indeed, take an animal each week and that animal is usually a deer. But here in Utah, that animal isn't always a deer. I have a neighborhood friend who loses as many as 100 lambs per year to the cougars on Cedar Mountain. And, of course, there's the pets that disappear. Cattle, elk, pronghorn and horses, (usually the young) are also preyed upon occasionally, but to what extent, I couldn't say. I also know they kill coyotes and other cougars, but whether or not they eat them I don't know.
But let's say, for the sake of this discussion, that deer are their only prey. With 3,000 cougars, that appears to be 156,000 dead deer per year out of 350,000 which does sound mind blowing. However, it's not quite so scary when you do the actual biology and numbers.
The statewide population number is now 384,850 deer at the end of 2015, after the hunts. With the current buck to doe ratio at 23/100, that's 55,137 bucks and 239,713 does. Per many studies, 90% or more of those does were pregnant. That's 215,742+ pregnant does. And with a twin/single fawn delivery ratio of 50/50, that's 359,570 fawns born in the spring of 2016 which nearly doubles the population. Now we're talking 156,000 dead deer per year out of 744,420 which doesn't sound quite as bad.
Of course, with all the other biological dynamics, things are never quite so simple.(cougars breed all year, cougars have 1-3 kittens per litter, cougars kill other cougars over territory, cougars are hunted, there's a 3 to 5 year lag time between cougars' natural litter size response to deer population changes, cougars are so solitary, secretive and nocturnal they can't be counted with close accuracy, deer migrate, deer are also hunted, deer have other predators after them, etc., etc. etc.)
Add to all of that, there are lots of people who think we aren't killing enough cougars (per this thread) AND there are lots of people who think we're killing too many (per the Wildlife Board meeting a couple of months ago) AND there's a 10 year cougar plan now in place that addresses all these issues. No matter which direction a person wants to go on this they're gonna have strong opposition.
BOTTOM LINE? For me, at least, it's the fact that the deer herds are growing in 25 of the 30 general (1 is stable, 4 are decreasing) and if this continues at the rate it's growing we will be at our statewide objective (440,100) at the end of 2017. It's unfortunate for the OP that Monroe happens to be one of only two general units that is dropping in both population and buck to doe ratios (the other is Nebo), but the rest are doing better and don't need to be managed as if they were the Monroe. IMHO, of course!
Lee
