Read Saving LionsIn this issue, we announce our plans to file suit to protect Utah’s mountain lions, reveal a new ballot initiative in Colorado and share a recap of two new coexistence efforts with much promise.
A print version of “Saving Lions” is mailed twice per year to current contributors. Donate here to receive the next issue at home.
Read Saving LionsCatch up on the latest mountain lion news by checking out our Spring+Summer newsletter. In this issue, we share a eulogy to P22, an update on our work across the West and more.
Our Spring Newsletter is here!Catch up on the latest mountain lion news by checking out our spring newsletter. In this issue, we share what brings us hope, discuss coexistence, and so much more.
Catch up on the latest mountain lion news by checking out our winter newsletter. In this issue, we share our resolutions for the upcoming year, thank you for your support, and so much more.
In the late nineteenth century, humans came at long last to a devastating realization: their rapidly industrializing and globalizing societies were driving scores of animal species to extinction. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the movement to protect and conserve other forms of life. From early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today’s global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Nijhuis’s “spirited and engaging” account documents “the changes of heart that changed history” (Dan Cryer, Boston Globe).
As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change wreak havoc on our world, Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all species, including our own.
Michelle Nijhuis is the author of the new book Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction. She is a project editor for The Atlantic and a longtime contributing editor for High Country News, and her reporting has appeared in publications including National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine. After 15 years off the electrical grid in rural Colorado, she and her family now live in southwestern Washington state.
The Mountain Lion Celebrates its 35th year protecting and preserving America’s Lion!
Today marks the date of our inception and the last 35 years as the only organization solely dedicated to Saving America’s lion.
Today we are celebrating not only us, but we also celebrate 35 years of your dedication and support! We hope you enjoy this short movie that highlights the many challenges we have faced together and the victories you helped us win on behalf of the lion!
Here’s to the next 35 years together!
P.S. LOOK FOR MORE CELEBRATIONS TO COME!
August 13, 2021, Kennewick, WA — The Klickitat County Sheriff’s rampage against wildlife violates state law and must immediately be stopped by courts, according to new filings in a Washington State court. The filing is the latest in the Mountain Lion Foundation’s lawsuit against Sheriff Bob Songer, calls for an immediate order halting the illegal hunts and his illegal deputization of a posse to assist in the culling. Just this year, Songer has pursued several cougars, illegally using packs of hounds to chase mountain lions that posed no threat to public safety.
“Sheriff Songer’s conduct endangers the people of Klickitat County, devastates wildlife, and contradicts everything science and experience teaches us about how to protect livestock and communities,” explains Debra Chase, CEO of the Mountain Lion Foundation. “Sheriffs are supposed to follow the law, not undercut the will of Washington voters and legislators, and the laws established to protect wildlife from being cruelly and capriciously chased by dogs. It’s a shame he wouldn’t abide by the law, or meet us and other concerned citizens to find a better solution, and especially bad that we need the courts to compel him to stop breaking the laws he swore to uphold.”
The Mountain Lion Foundation’s petition to the Benton County Superior Court asks for a Peremptory Writ of Prohibition, an order blocking further implementation of Songer’s so-called Dangerous Wildlife Policy and Procedures. In 1996, 63% of Washington voters approved Initiative 655, which prohibits the use of hound packs to hunt cougars, with very limited exceptions that do not apply to Sheriff Songer.
Chase explains: “Sheriff Songer’s policy allows him and people he claims to have deputized — without any background checks or training — to chase cougars simply seen walking through agricultural areas, or feeding on deer they caught in the wild. Rather than killing lions just for being themselves, Songer should work with state wildlife agencies, his own citizens, and groups like ours to develop safe paths to coexistence in Klickitat County.”
In a 2010 survey by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washingtonians statewide overwhelmingly agreed “it is the responsibility of people to help prevent cougar conflicts when living in or near cougar habitat.” Only 10% agreed with the statement “Cougars spotted in or near towns should be killed.” In the last 100 years, cougars in Washington have only killed two people (in 1924 and 2018). There has never been a fatal attack in Klickitat County.
A hearing on the legal case is scheduled for August 27. Filings can be found online at http://www.facebook.com/groups/springvsonger
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Founded in 1986, the Mountain Lion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to ensure that America’s lion survives and flourishes in the wild. The Foundation’s website is http://mountainlion.org.
Adam P. Karp, JD, MS is a regional animal law litigator residing in Bellingham, Washington with licenses in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. He has practiced animal law for 23 years. His website is http://animal-lawyer.com.
Contact: Josh Rosenau, Conservation Advocate, Mountain Lion Foundation
jrosenau@mountainlion.org
916-442-2666 ext. 107
Adam Karp, Esq.
adam@animal-lawyer.com
(888) 430-0001
Catch up on the latest mountain lion news by checking out our summer newsletter. In this issue, we cover the remarkability of America’s lion, Mourning Melanie the Mountain Lion, updates on our work across the nation, and so much more.
Click here to read our newsletter now!
In this webinar, Patrick Lendrum, Senior Science Specialist for World Wildlife Fund, will be sharing a glimpse into the secret lives of mountain lions and what 10+ years of research from Panthera’s Puma Program uncovered in and around Grand Teton National Park. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is home to a complete suite of large carnivores including cougars, black bears, grizzly bears, and wolves, all of which compete for food and space making this a unique landscape. There is also a robust prey population of elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and a few others that might surprise you. And, as in most places, wildlife must navigate the influence humans have on the landscape from development and multiple land uses including grazing and hunting. In this presentation, Patrick will provide an overview of cougar habitat use, prey selection, social behavior, population dynamics and what influence wolves and humans have on the mountain lions of the region.
In case you missed it, watch it now!
Patrick Lendrum
Patrick Lendrum is the Senior Science Specialist for World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Northern Great Plains (NGP) Program. He leads the development of science priorities for the program, implementing projects to answer key scientific questions that address the loss of native grasslands and the impacts that these losses may have on the wildlife and human communities that depend on them. Patrick also oversees the measurement of progress toward the NGP Program’s conservation goals and partnerships with a variety of stakeholders in order to develop shared conservation solutions.
Prior to joining WWF Patrick earned his M.S. and Ph.D. examining the effects of human-caused land use change on wildlife communities and ways to minimize disturbance while promoting sustainable development. He has worked across the western US in a variety of habitats spanning costal rainforests to prairie grasslands, with species ranging from insects to grizzly bears. Patrick has partnered with State, Federal, Private, and NGO entities to build large-scale collaborations in diverse working landscapes. The research Patrick has been involved with has been featured in National Geographic Magazine, BBC documentaries, and published in numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles. He is thrilled to now be conducting applied science that contributes towards WWF’s mission of securing a future that meets the needs of humans and nature.
We’re grateful to California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for their efforts to save mountain lions in the state. A young mountain lion left orphaned after its mother was killed in traffic, has been released into the wild after months of care provided by CDFW and the San Diego Humane Society (Ramona Wildlife Center). The lion and her sister were roughly six months old when they were first seen in February at the edges of Tijeras Creek Golf Course in Orange County. After confirming the siblings had been orphaned, CDFW with assistance from Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital veterinarians and the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center California Mountain Lion Project captured the pair for possible rehabilitation.
CDFW is carefully piloting the release and rehabilitation of mountain lions in California on a case-by-case basis. This is the second mountain lion rehabilitated and released in the state of California.
Read the press release:
June 23, 2021
Young, Orphaned Mountain Lion Released Following Rehabilitation
A young mountain lion left orphaned after its mother was killed in traffic, has been released into the wild after months of care provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the San Diego Humane Society (Ramona Wildlife Center).
The lion and her sister were roughly six months old when they were first seen in February at the edges of Tijeras Creek Golf Course in Orange County. After confirming the siblings had been orphaned, CDFW with assistance from Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital veterinarians and the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center California Mountain Lion Project captured the pair for possible rehabilitation.
The first lion was sent to San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center and placed into a large, isolated enclosure with only minimal human contact. Using remote cameras, staff monitored the lion’s growth for both size and strength for four months prior to release. The second mountain lion had a left forearm fracture and first needed surgical repair by the Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Lake Forest (Orange County) veterinary team. She is still in care at the Ramona Wildlife Center and recovering.
CDFW is carefully piloting the release and rehabilitation of mountain lions in California on a case-by-case basis. This is the second mountain lion rehabilitated and released in the state of California. The first mountain lion rehabilitated by CDFW was an adult female when the San Gabriel mountains burned in the Bobcat Fire. Satellite tracking collar data and remote camera photographs indicate that cat has survived and is doing well since its return to the wild in October 2020.
CDFW senior wildlife veterinarian Dr. Deana Clifford is hoping for similar results with the young lion released this week.
“Although this cat is only 10 months old, she’s consistently behaving like a wild mountain lion,” Dr. Clifford noted. “As for any young mountain lion, her chances of survival in the wild are lower than an adult, but if she does survive and reproduce she will make an important contribution to the mountain lion population in this region of Southern California”
“We are very excited to have been a part of this pilot effort for mountain lion rehab in California,” said Christine Barton, director of operations and wildlife rehabilitation at San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center. “We hope these few months with us have provided her the extra time needed to fill the void left from losing her mother.”
CDFW Regional Wildlife Program Supervisor Christine Thompson said it was through the dedication and cooperation of many organizations (Ramona Wildlife Center, Serrano Hospital, UC Davis) that this release was made possible.
“These efforts of rehabbing and providing medical care are only possible through the valuable partnerships we enjoy with these groups,” said Thompson. “Californians are fortunate to have so many passionate people working for the benefit of the state’s wildlife.”
Video of Monday’s lion release into the Santa Ana Mountains is available for download at this link: https://filelib.wildlife.ca.gov/Public/OCEO/orphaned%20mtn%20lion%20release/
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Media Contact:
Tim Daly, CDFW Communications, (916) 201-2058
