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Fast Facts

1) Mountain lions are variously called cougars, pumas or panthers.

2) Lions are primarily solitary and do not hunt in packs like wolves.

3) Males and females come together for breeding purposes only.

Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation

The Black Hills Mountain Lion Foundation was started by a group of conservation- minded people in 2003 after the South Dakota Legislature removed the cougar from the state’s threatened species list and reclassified it as a big game animal. Our primary challenge is to preserve mountain lions on the landscape for future generations. This is a lofty goal considering the rapid rate of human development and loss of lion habitat across the West along with the longstanding human intolerance toward this species.

We sponsor educational programs to ensure public understanding of the critical role cougars play in our ecosystem and reduce the frequency of human/lion conflicts. Other goals include supporting a cougar management plan based on peer-reviewed science, encouraging research on the use of non-lethal methods of dealing with problem lions and working to prevent habitat loss and fragmentation.

The Black Hills National Forest, home to an estimated 200 to 225 mountain lions, is heavily roaded and interspersed with tracts of privately-owned land. There is hardly a place where a lion can go without being seen. The number of documented lion mortalities is high and primarily human caused. In 2007, there were 47 documented deaths not including the 19 cats killed in the hunting season. Sixteen females and three males were harvested, and at least 10 kittens were known to be orphaned.

We are not an anti-hunting organization. In fact, many members are hunters. However, we recognize that mountain lion hunting engenders serious problems not encountered in the hunting of other species. For example, it is difficult to distinguish males from females in the field. In addition, kittens are dependent on their mothers for up to 18 months during which time they learn vital hunting skills. Deprived of their mothers, young kittens will die. Older kittens may become problem lions as they desperately try to survive by preying on easy targets such as pets or livestock. Approximately one-half to two- thirds of adult females have dependent young at any given time. Therefore, harvesting female lions predictably and inevitably orphans kittens.

There is no evidence that hunting mountain lions increases human safety. Over the course of time, hunting lowers the average age of the lion population. Younger lions lack experience, live a riskier life style and come into conflict with people more often than older established lions. For these reasons, we believe that the mainstay of lion management should reside in education and the aggressive removal of problem lions.

Learn more interesting facts about mountain lions and common misconceptions by clicking here.