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When is enough... enough?
Mountain lions live a short 13 years in the wild -- if they make it to old age. Today, few lions live a full natural lifespan.
It's a difficult life, full of potentially lethal challenges: even when the lion avoids humans.
They are shot for recreation, for sport, and for trophies. They are shot when a rancher's livestock is lost, and when pets disappear. They are shot when people are afraid.
Individual lions, and individual people, are diminished whenever we kill a lion unnecessarily. We lose not just a member of the species, but mother lions that might train their kittens to avoid people, large and well-established males that have proved themselves able to survive entirely in the wild, and lions that feel, think, experience and behave in the world as individuals.
And each time we kill a lion, we lose a little bit of what distinguishes us as humans: our capacity for compassion, for making rational decisions that benefit the common good, for overcoming the urge to demonstrate power and dominance at the expense of our neighbors and our environment.
If we lose our big cats, we will mourn a species that we barely understood. Only a few of us will have encountered an individual wild lion.
And this will be the greatest loss: That we knew just enough to save them, enough to change our behavior, enough to make a difference, and that we chose not to act.
Who We Are Fighting
Recently a Colorado resident wrote an opinion piece for his local newspaper lamenting the loss of Colorado's "great western outdoor culture," and warned the public about the infiltration of that state's wildlife agency by "agenda-driven environmentalists, masquerading as biologists.
Inspiration for this familiar rant was news of the arrest of three Boulder, Colorado men for felony animal abuse after they killed a trash can raiding raccoon. Claiming that this action was his "breaking point," and that raccoons are not even on the endangered species list, the opinionist went on to complain that Colorado was "feeding our precious resources [deer] ...
Nebraska Senator Introduces
Bill to Trophy Hunt Lions
01/11/2012 - Last month, one of Nebraska's rare mountain lions had to be euthanized after sustaining severe injuries from being caught in a steel-jawed leg hold trap. She was one of only a handful of female lions believed to live in the state.
In a population of just twenty cats, breeding-aged females play a crucial role.
Residents saw this loss as a huge setback in the species' recovery, with many wanting a statewide ban on the traps and an increase in protection laws for mountain lions. State Senator LeRoy Louden, however, has continued his push to kill off the cats.
Who Owns the Wildlife?
12/21/11 GUEST COMMENTARY: John W. Laundré, Cougar Biologist
State University of New York at Oswego
A cougar biologist takes a strong stand on the real value of wildlife. In this important opinion piece, John Laundré considers the public cost of wildlife mismanagement, and the consequences of bureaucratic decisions that fail to consider the public good and the intrinsic value of wild predators.
ON AIR: Gary Koehler on Applying Science to Attitudes
01/21/12 An Audio Interview with Julie West, MLF Broadcaster
In this edition of ON AIR, MLF Volunteer Julie West interviews cougar biologist Gary Koehler about his experience with mountain lion and human populations in Washington. Koehler sheds light on the difficulty of applying scientific research about lion behavior to human attitudes and management.
ON AIR: Deborah Jansen on Florida Panthers
04/30/10 An Audio Interview with Julie West, MLF Broadcaster
Florida Panthers face inbreeding, habitat loss, and record-high roadkills. Hear about Wildlife Bilogist Deborah Jansen's work tracking and collaring the big cats in southwest Florida, and what the future may hold for Puma concolor coryi.
Double Cross
06/05/11 GUEST COMMENTARY: Constantine Chuchla
The pursuit of game as trophies is a pursuit of vanity. It is a self-indulgence that amounts to a bravura by those with a predilection to kill wildlife. For those with a trigger itch, trophy hunting fulfills that enigmatic urge to connect with nature. Obliterating nature while claiming a respect for it is the ultimate double-cross.
The Day the Safety Net Failed
04/20/10 Amy Rodrigues, MLF Outreach Coordinator
Two mountain lion kittens have exposed a gaping hole in mountain lion protection policies. California still has much work to do before lions will truly be "specially protected." The ban on recreational hunting was only a first step. Remaining on the "to-do" list: clarifying policies and facilitating communication between the state Department of Fish & Game, wildlife rescue groups, and the public.
Grim Anniversary
06/08/11 GUEST COMMENTARY: Camilla Fox, Reprinted with permission from the Animal Welfare Institute
The Animal Damage Control Act was signed into law in 1931. The 80th anniversary of its passage this past March was hardly a cause for celebration; rather, it is an anniversary of mourning for each one of the millions of coyotes, foxes, wolves, bears, mountain lions, bobcats, badgers, Canada geese, cormorants, black birds and other animals labeled as "pests" who have been killed since this Act came into force.
Top of the Poisoned Chain
06/28/11 GUEST COMMENTARY: Julia Di Sieno, Animal Rescue Team, Inc.
A rare disease among wild cats has become the primary cause of death among bobcats in California's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The cats are dying from mange, a skin disease caused by a tiny parasite. The use of rat poisons is likely the underlying cause of the dramatic increase in mange-related deaths.
