But not Nevada. We don’t have a predator problem!?

For the last ten years, HUNTER'S ALERT has told NDOW that we have a predator problem. For ten years, NDOW has acted like a deaf mule with blinders. They are stubborn and do not see or hear anything when it comes to predators. Below are excerpts from various publications proving that western states have predator problems but that they are also doing something about them. HUNTER'S ALERT has stated for years that until we get a new administrator who chooses to go in a different direction, nothing is going to change NDOW'S motto of "We don't have a predator problem."

From Las Vegas Review Journal, (AP)

June 18, 1999:

Wyoming proposes more lion hunting

Cougar at prey: A mountain lion feeds on a Sierra Nevada bighorn ram Wheeler Ridge in Kern County, Calif. Dec. 1995

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is proposing more hunting in the Jackson area and a longer hunting season near Casper.

"We have traditionally maintained very conservative hunting seasons and it appears our lion populations could easily sustain a greater harvest," said Joe Bohne, Jackson wildlife management coordinator.

In Jackson, the department suggests at least 36 lions be hunted per year, up from 15. In Casper, the hunting season would increase from six months to a year on Casper Mountain and to the south. Additionally, each hunter would be allowed to buy two licenses for that area.

Over the past five years, mountain lion hunting increased 127 percent in western Wyoming, and hunters spent fewer days tracking and killing animals over the past two years.

Mountain lion harvest quotas in western Wyoming have increased by 90 percent." Las Vegas Review Journal, July 29, 1999: Utah Deer Numbers: "Utah sportsmen, as well as officials from the Division of Wildlife Resources, have expressed concern about the low numbers of deer

in northern Utah's Cache County. There appears to be a common feeling that the area contains too many cougars, so an effort is being made to harvest more animals next season to see whether that makes a difference. Forty cougar permits will be proposed, an increase of 12 tags." Las Vegas Review Journal, June 11, 1999 New Mexico to kill coyotes, cougars "New Mexico game officials plan to kill dozens of cougars to help bighorn sheep recover and to kill hundreds of coyotes to help deer.

But they admit they're not sure the coyote plan will benefit deer. Department biologist Bill Dunn says mountain lions often prey on the state's bighorn sheep.

The state Game Commission plans to approve a policy next month that would permit the Game and Fish Department to kill as many cougars as it sees fit on 140 square miles in the Manzano, Ladrones, Hatchet and Peloncillo mountain ranges. The policy, which could go into effect by August, could mean the deaths of about two dozen cougars a year.... Dunn said the plan to kill cougars in bighorn sheep ranges is anchored in science.

The department has put radio collars on up to as many as 100 bighorn sheep in recent years. Since 1995, 53 collared animals have died, three-quarters of them killed by cougars, Dunn said. New Mexico has about 540 Rocky Mountain bighorns and about 220 desert bighorns, Dunn said. It has about 2,000 mountain lions.

Lions have increasingly turned to preying on bighorns as the deer herds have declined in certain areas, Dunn said. Reno Gazette Journal, April 20, 1999: Sierra bighorn sheep declared endangered

"The Fish and Wildlife Service declared the Sierra Nevada bighorn an endangered species Tuesday, a move that could lead to the shooting of mountain lions found to have preyed on the sheep. Only about 100 adult bighorns survive in the High Sierra wilderness, mostly around Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks in California and along the

Nevada line.

"Time is running out for the Sierra Bighorn." said John Wehausen, president of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation in Bishop, Calif. "With the service's action, state and federal agencies have the tools they need to protect these rare animals from the threats that jeopardize their continued existence." Federal biologists determined the bighorns warrant emergency protection under the Endangered Species Act on at least a temporary basis due primarily to threats of disease from domestic sheep and predation from mountain lions. Fish and Game authorities in California historically shot mountain lions that were threatening bighorn sheep herds, but California voters in 1990 approved a ballot measure banning the sport hunting of big cats."

Las Vegas Review Journal, April 22, 1999:

Mountain lions targeted by hunt "A dozen mountain lions are being targeted in a planned hunt designed to protect the dwindling number of bighorn sheep in the Canyon Lake area. But a wildlife protection group says the predator hunt is senseless and fails to address the real problem of the sheep's shrinking habitat.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department said Wednesday that the 'sport hunt will begin July 1 at dawn in a rugged area north of Canyon Lake, some 50 miles northeast of Phoenix." Las Vegas Review Journal, March 30, 1999

Authorities to shoot coyotes in Arizona "For the second year, wildlife officials will shoot coyotes from airplanes to trim numbers of the predator, which they say threatens the declining pronghorn antelope population. "Research has shown that if we can reduce the coyote population in specific herd areas before the critical fawning time, fawn survival can be increased," said Tom Britt, Flagstaff regional supervisor for the Game and Fish Department. "These methods are onl used for herds that are below desired

population numbers. ...

USA Today, May 14, 1999:

Meant to protect animals,

laws can harm

By Traci Watson

"In years past, it seemed like a good idea to protect California’s remaining mountain lions from people with guns. State legistators outlawed mountain lion hunting for trophies in 1973, and in 1990, voters passed a referendum that bans all killing of the beasts, also known as cougars or pumas.

The lion's numbers, meanwhile, have exploded to levels not seen since the 1800's. And to keep their bellies full, some cougars have turned to a tempting target: the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, of which only 100 or so still exist. "We should've been controlling lions and couldn't because of the 1990 law, says bighorn expert John Wehausen of the University of California White Mountain Research Station. "(Now) it's a necessity." It's such a necessity that last month the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gave emergency protection to the bighorn. This lets federal officials remove cougars that might pose a threat to the sheep, either by killing the cougars or trapping them and placing them elsewhere. The cougar-sheep clash illustrates the problems that might crop up when anyone tries to right the balance of nature. "I'm not saying the public should not be involved," says Russ Mason, a predator biologist with the Agriculture Department's National Wildlife Research Center. "But I do think the discussion should be infused with a little science now and again. What if we made nuclear

policy this way?"

Las Vegas Review Journal, June 25, 1999:

Plan to kill cougars in New Mexico

OK'd

"The state Game Commission voted unanimously to kill cougars as a way to recover the bighorn sheep population in

New Mexico. The commission approved killing 34 cougars each year for five years beginning in October. According to the Game and Fish

Department, cougars are the main cause for the reduction in bighorn sheep. Of the 43 radio-collared bighorns that have died since 1996, 36 were killed by cougars, the department reported. "It's a step in the right direction," said Luke Shelby, spokesman for the department. "The board wants to see bighorn re-established and if it takes suppressing mountain lions to do that, then that's a cost we can afford." About 15 wildlife biologists, ranchers, hunters and animal rights activists gave their opinions to the board during a meeting here Friday." Conservation Force Hunting Report Supplement for May 1999 Issue: "An irony in Arizona right now is the fact that the Anus in that state are attempting to stop mountain lion hunting in a sheep conflict. It is in an area where Desert Bighorn Sheep have dwindled from a high of 250 to only 60 to 65, which is 40 fewer than the California Bighorn, that have just been listed by the USF & WS because of mountain lion depredation. Fortunately, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission is following the suggestion of their biologist Ray Lee who thinks 12 of the 16 mountain lion in the area must be hunted or otherwise eliminated."