Managing one species for the benefit of another raises some serious questions.

Rapid encroachment by human development together with climate change has made life even harder for ungulate populations. There are struggling herds in many areas, especially in the western united states where ungulates still share the landscape with natural predators. We have come to expect, although not agree with, the degree of palliative removal of predators that goes along with the livestock growing history of the west. Unprotected domestic livestock share our rich public lands with indigenous wildlife and conflict often ensues. In this scenario, the predators are removed for the sake of the producer.

Sadly, this mentality has now migrated to the protection of wild ungulates. The word ‘hunting’ suggests that just as it is for predator and prey-there are no guarantees. But the powerful lobby of the sportsman has put pressure on wildlife managers to provide, not only ‘opportunity’ but also a greater degree of ‘success’. It is human nature to want someone or something to blame and in the case of declining deer, elk and moose, the large carnivore is a useful scapegoat. Many states are actively pursuing policies that will reduce mortality of ungulates by exerting additive pressure on predators. This increases the number of ungulates for man to kill.

We must look very carefully at this shift to managing game species simply as ‘free ranging livestock’. They are not.

There is a significant difference between ‘managing’ wildlife and ‘manipulating’ it in response to social driven harvest demands.

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/more-tags-likely-for-black-hills-deer-hunters/article_541b5bcc-3afc-535c-9d0c-f33b6b86d056.html

Wolves benefit from protection in Missouri facility

MISSOURI loses a mountain lion

Follow up about the Mountain Lion killed in Nebraska.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Mountain-Lion-Spotted-A-302835431.html

The Cougar Fund has been reaching out to all the players in the tragic events that developed outside the Project Harmony building in Omaha, Nebraska yesterday. In case you are new to the situation, here is a little background. Nebraska is home to a very small population of resident, reproducing mountain lions. This population is centered in the Pine Ridge Region on the western side of the state. As mountain lions mature,  the young will disperse from the mother’s home range as they seek to establish territory of their own. Mountain lions have quite simple needs, based on the instinct to eat, breed and find habitat that allows them to remain elusive. The way east does not provide very much opportunity to fulfill these needs so ‘passing through’ is how mountain lions usually experience the rest of Nebraska. At about 5pm on Wednesday May 6th a mountain lion was spotted in an outside area up against the Project Harmony building in Omaha. It is quite possible that the lion arrived in this spot via preferred riparian areas close to either Papillon or Hell Creeks in the vicinity. Project Harmony  is a humanitarian place of refuge and healing for children traumatized by abuse. The Omaha Police Department responded to the scene. The following information comes from telephone conversations with personnel from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC), the Omaha Police Department(OPD) and the Nebraska Humane Society (NHS).

The emergency response protocol of NGPC is to euthanize mountain lions found in metropolitan areas. That is it, plain and simple. The reasoning behind this is the lack of public land in Nebraska and also the fact that surrounding states have indicated their unwillingness to receive relocated animals. The protocol does not specify the method of euthanasia.

NGPC is the agency ‘in charge’ of the state’s wildlife and the OPD are in charge of ‘public safety’. When public safety is apparently threatened by the presence of a wild animal, the OPD look to the NGPC for guidance. The de facto choice in this situation is procedurally limited to euthanasia. It seems that someone in the police department was seeking a more compassionate solution because they also consulted with the Nebraska Humane Society and the Henry Doorly Zoo, which is frequently cited as the pre-eminent captive facility in the nation.

The Humane Society did respond to the scene, according to one of their workers. The police allowed them to assess the possibility for tranquilizing the lion, but they felt they were not in a position to accomplish this successfully and the order went out to kill the lion with gunfire, where it was resting.

There is no way to conceal the brutality of the killing of this animal. Although the use of shotguns is standard procedure by wildlife professionals, it seems that it resulted in a protracted death for the cougar. It has been reported by several witness that after the first shot gun blasts, the mountain lion stood up, in an apparent attempt to escape the barrage of ammunition. Would it have been possible to use the skills of a trained marksman, or wait for NGPC to arrive?

The cougar’s ultimate escape came with terror, pain and finally death.

We have been assured that there will be an investigation and a follow up report about this polarizing event. What can we expect? What would we like to see as the outcome? Can this cougar’s life and death be a catalyst for change in the attitudes that prevail about large carnivores?

Nebraska has been the site of great angst concerning the relatively recent presence of the slowly recovering mountain lion population. The predominant sentiment paints these apex predators as vicious killers from whom nobody is safe. The demand to hunt them, kill them on sight or otherwise protect people, pets and livestock from mountain lions has reached the very highest level of decision making, with reasonable management proposals being vetoed by the Governor at the end of the 2014 Unicameral Session.

NGPC itself called for a halt to the hunting season in light of the need for further study and because the incidental mortality had far exceeded their expectations. This was met by resistance in rural communities who are not willing to accept the overwhelming scientific evidence that safety AND mountain lions on the landscape can happen simultaneously! The actions of authorities such as NGPC and the OPD often reflect the values and demands of the communities they serve. This is most evident when the public is motivated by fear and misinformation. The video accompanying the news article attached, shows exaggerated references to public safety, when in fact the lion was in an isolated area and (as long as there were armed and trained officers to respond to any indication that the lion intended to approach people) public safety was being protected.

The directive to euthanize the  Project Harmony mountain lion may have been unavoidable under current guidelines, but the method was unacceptable under any circumstances.

It is too easy to just be a ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’. The most productive commentary is about asking ‘what comes next’? Public servants know that public opinion goes with the territory and they also know that they will get a chance to analyze this event and introduce better policies because of it. The ideal result would be that the citizens of Nebraska would learn from the experience of the millions of people living on the Front Range of the Rockies, in the Santa Monica’s or in densely populated South Florida. These urban dwellers have worked through their primitive reactions to large carnivores. They take sightings in stride and they adapt their own behavior to mitigate negative encounters. As citizens learn to live safely with large carnivores on the landscape, so the authorities respect and reflect the educated and tolerant attitude of the people they are sworn to protect.

This lion died by a cruel and unacceptable method, the videos are excruciating for us to see and hear and it is almost unbearable to imagine how much this lion suffered : not because of the protocol to kill cougars in urban areas; not because of an imminent threat to the sadly, already abused children present in Project Harmony; not because the Humane Society was unable to find a trajectory for their tranquilizers; but because fear prevented the decision makers from taking the time to carefully assess the level of threat and from their decision to use unsophisticated weaponry to kill the lion.

Decision makers must find a way to integrate time, knowledge, and heightened awareness into policy if man’s broken relationship with the wild is to be healed.

No, No, Nebraska!

No one would ever question that public safety is the priority of everyone involved when a large wild carnivore finds itself in inappropriate developed surroundings.

Public safety can still be maintained by establishing a perimeter-including armed responders- who can rapidly mitigate the anticipated attempt to escape by a mountain lion as a tranquilizer begins to work. The heightened fear that this kind of response elicits as opposed to the heightened awareness and disciplined scene management that is the best outcome, has a negative and deleterious affect on public education about mountain lions.

If this lion was a young male he belonged to the most suitable demographic for attempted relocation. The story indicates that the lion may have been seeking refuge. Lions move quickly through areas that do not support them either with food or with their need to remain elusive. Lions are wild, they need to be treated with respect. Respect can be achieved best by sound education and thoughtful management response, rather than embellishing the already inflated myths that surround these animals. The highest level of safety does not always come through the barrel of a gun.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Mountain-Lion-Spotted-A-302835431.html

We need to pay attention..

Thank you Governor Steve Bullock of Montana!!!

Governor Bullock has vetoed SB 334, which would have redefined furbearers as game animals in a ploy to seek protection under the right to hunt, rather than to trap, which is not covered  by Mont. Const., Art. IX, §7.

Montana has been at the forefront of wildlife management policies and politics for decades. From shipping surplus elk across the nation in 1913 to the ‘wolf wars’ of the 2000’s, passion has always run high in the stakeholder groups that are served by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP). FWP has one of the better records for being responsive to public insight. While still buy real valtrex online predominantly associated with consumptive users and livestock growers, the state agency representatives have been willing to listen to many different participants in their management of Montana’s wildlife.

Governor Steve Bullock has shown that this pragmatic and broadranging acknowledgement of the diversity of stakeholders has reached the highest office.

Thank you for protecting Montana’s heritage and for preventing the circumvention of the democratic process that was seen in the resurrection of SB 334. Governor Bullock’s letter explaining his veto can be read here.

Congratulations to the people and groups that worked so hard to honor democracy and protect wildlife from the expansion of exploitative initiatives.