GF&P defends cougar hunting

Matthew Gruchow • mgruchow@argusleader.com • March 26, 2008

Agency disputes scientist's concern

South Dakota wildlife officials say mountain lion hunting has helped rid the state of "problem lions" despite a Washington researcher's claims that hunting aggravates issues between lions and people.

Ben Maletzke, a Washington biologist, says that killing male lions can destabilize lion populations and increase chances of human-lion contacts. He says it opens up territory to young lions that are more apt to take risks and are not used to living around people.

John Kanta, regional wildlife manager for the state Game, Fish and Parks department, says its preliminary data does not show that hunting is leading to more contact between lions and people. He admits his agency's data is largely anecdotal, but it is clear that troublesome animals are being eliminated, he said.

"We're able to say the hunting season is taking the place of some of the other mortality ... that it's reducing the number of problem lions," he said.

However, they can't tell yet whether younger lions are in turn causing problems, he said.

South Dakota's mountain lion population appears to be strong, and there have been recent incidents where lions have entered populated areas. Authorities on Monday killed a mountain lion in the Black Hills for that very reason.

Governor's support

Hunters killed 19 mountain lions during the 2007 season. That was an increase from the 16 killed in 2006 and the 13 killed in 2005.

Gov. Mike Rounds has defended the hunting season.

"I do not agree that sport hunting disrupts important dynamics within the lion population and with other species such as deer," he wrote in a January letter to Sharon Seneczko, founder of the Black Hills Lion Foundation.

There also has been no observed increase in human conflicts with mountain lions, Rounds wrote, and many of the lions killed by hunters already had fit the definition of a "problem lion" and would have been removed by GF&P.

Seneczko disagrees. It oversimplifies the issue to look strictly at the number of lion-human contacts and harvest numbers, she said. A hunting season is acceptable, but it might create more problems than it solves, Seneczko said.

"When we're talking about hunting lions, we need to think not so much, 'Do we need to hunt these animals?' but 'Do we want to hunt these animals for recreation or sport?' " she said. "And realize that we aren't really solving any problems."

Seneczko, like Maletzke, said heavy hunting of a lion population can create two major problems. First, the hunting of adult males creates a vacancy that is filled by young lions more likely to take risks around humans. Second, the hunting of female lions creates orphans that do not "complete their education" and can therefore become problem animals.

"Young lions, because they don't have a number of years of life behind them, they take risks," Seneczko said. "They're animals that are intelligent enough to learn from life experiences."

Encounters rare

GF&P officials will continue to collect data on the effects of hunting on the state's lion population, Kanta said.

What is clear is that encounters with a mountain lion remain rare because lions are secretive, he said. "Chances are slim to see it and slimmer for a bad encounter," he said.  For Seneczko, there is a simpler way to manage the mountain lion population.

"I truly, truly believe the best solution is pick up problem animals only," she said.

If hunting continues, it should be accompanied by a reduced female harvest quota so as to make fewer orphans and high tag fees with some of the money allocated for conservation, Seneczko said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Matthew Gruchow at 331-2301.