Cougar hunts don’t reduce attacks on people, study finds
SAN FRANCISCO – No evidence proves sport hunting reduces fatal encounters between people and mountain lions, says a study out today that adds fuel to a debate over the trophy killings of big-game animals.
The study comes as mountain lion attacks on humans, while still rare, are increasing and reported sightings more common, especially where suburbs and second homes have spread into lion habitat.
The study by the Sacramento-based Mountain Lion Foundation compared lion-people incidents in 10 states that permit hunting with data from California, which banned cougar hunting in 1972. Nine states – Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and New Mexico – had higher attack rates than California. Wyoming’s was lower.
“Any state that claims sport hunting is anything more than recreation will have to prove it, because evidence just isn’t there,” foundation President Lynn Sadler says. At least two states, Oregon and South Dakota, used an argument that hunting reduces attacks to win approval for hunts, she says. The foundation opposes sport hunting of lions.
Confirmed cougar attacks have killed 18 people in the United States since 1890, according to the foundation. Six were in California, which has 4,000 to 7,000 lions. Hunters and wildlife agencies say states allow hunting only at a level that keeps animal populations healthy. South Dakota, which had its first hunt last year and wasn’t included in the study, allowed only 25 lions or five breeding-age females to be killed.
Other Western states allow bigger hunts, and all states kill a small number of nuisance animals each year. From 1990 to 2004, nearly 50,000 lions were killed in the 10 states. In Oregon, mountain lions declined to about 200 after decades of bounty hunting. The population is estimated at more than 5,000 today, says Tom Thornton, a state game manager. “Sport hunting slows the rate of population increase, and by having fewer cougars you would expect fewer encounters,” he says.