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.
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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.
For immediate release
Date: April 1, 2022
Contact:
Logan Christian, Region II Conservation Advocate, Mountain Lion Foundation
lchristian@mountainlion.org
916-442-2666 ext. 108
Arizona Game and Fish Commission Approves the Arizona Hunt Guidelines, Setting Up the Next Five Years of Mountain Lion Management
Phoenix, Arizona – On Friday, April 1, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted 5-0 to approve the Arizona Hunt Guidelines, establishing the next five years of hunting management for Arizona’s mountain lions and other hunted wildlife species.
The approved Hunt Guidelines came with two improvements for mountain lions, both targeted towards female lions. The Arizona Game and Fish Department will now limit female mountain lion hunting to 50% of the total mountain lion hunting limit in each unit, and count female mountain lions as adults if they show evidence of lactation, thereby counting these individuals towards their existing adult female hunting limit of 25%. Previously, the Department only counted females over three to be adult, even though many reach reproductive maturity between two and three. This was especially problematic given that that lions less than three years old are the most heavily hunted age class in Arizona.
Despite these improvements, several important recommendations were not included in the final Hunt Guidelines. “We were hopeful that the Department would prohibit hunting during times when female mountain lions are having kittens, and limit overall hunting levels to no more than 14 percent of the independent mountain lion population,” said Logan Christian, Region II Conservation Advocate for Mountain Lion Foundation. “The best available science demonstrates that those changes would prevent the majority of kitten orphaning and ensure a more stable population over the long run.”
The Department included a new positive change for black bears- to evaluate habitat conditions every three years, or after landscape-level events such as wildfire. However, they did not include a similar provision for other native carnivores impacted by changing habitat conditions. “Mountain lions need similar periodic habitat evaluations given the impact of drought and wildfire on their population,” said Christian. Additionally, the Department decided to maintain their spring bear hunt, making Arizona one of only seven states that still allow black bear hunting during this sensitive time when mothers are nursing their new cubs.
Before voting on the Hunt Guidelines, the Arizona Game and Fish Commissioners reacted to public criticism received throughout the Hunt Guidelines process. Several Commissioners posited that maintaining current hunting levels is justified since hunting provides revenue for wildlife conservation. Holding up a check from Arizona Deer Association, Commissioner Leland Brake stated, “We have a stable population because sportsmen groups are paying to support wildlife.”
Christian criticized the notion that hunting revenue makes the conservation of mountain lions and other native carnivores possible. “Hunting tags for mountain lions and other native carnivores provide a small source of revenue for the agency, and these species should be considered more than just a hunting opportunity. They hold intrinsic value and real tangible value as ecosystem engineers. They are worth far more alive than dead, and should be managed for all of us, not just hunters.”
Over the last seven months, MLF staff, volunteers and partners worked to raise awareness about mountain lion hunting management issues through media engagement, presentations and public testimony. “We were hopeful that the Department would make additional changes for Arizona’s mountain lions in line with the best available science,” said Christian. “However, we are grateful for the small improvements made, and will continue to advocate for the conservation of mountain lions and other native carnivores in Arizona.”
Join us as Dr. Patricia Cramer has an engaging and informative conversation with Logan Christian about her career studying and promoting wildlife crossings in the United States. Dr. Cramer has 25 years of experience helping identify, prioritize, and implement wildlife crossings to save both human and animal lives. Her insights are invaluable for anyone interested in promoting wildlife connectivity for mountain lions and other species.
Not long ago, many were skeptical of the idea to build special bridges, underpasses and other infrastructure to help wildlife safely cross or avoid roads. Today, however, these technologies are becoming much more common thanks to the efforts of researchers like Dr. Patricia Cramer. Working in over a dozen states, Dr. Cramer collaborates with wildlife managers, transportation planners and many others to identify critical wildlife corridors and choke points where wildlife crossing infrastructure could help prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions. Having kick-started her career modeling movement pathways for the Florida panther, Dr. Cramer also works diligently to ensure that planners consider mountain lions and other native carnivores in the planning and prioritization of wildlife crossings. Join us for a conversation with Dr. Cramer as she discusses what it takes to help wildlife move through the landscape in a rapidly changing world.
About Dr. Patricia Cramer
Dr. Patricia Cramer is an independent wildlife scholar. For the past 18 years she has researched wildlife crossing structures and worked to include wildlife concerns in the transportation planning process, with the goal of reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions while promoting wildlife connectivity across landscapes. Her research projects include three national level projects, and work with 14 departments of transportation, mainly in the western U.S. Patricia earned her PhD from the University of Florida in Wildlife Conservation, a Master’s Degree from Montana State University in Wildlife Ecology, and undergraduate degree in wildlife from State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.
Winston Vickers is a wildlife veterinarian with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center who has conducted research into mountain lions in California for the last 20 years. In that time, he and collaborators, and other researchers in the state, have learned a vast amount about the mountain lion populations in California, and unfortunately the news has often not been good. The accumulated research has shown that connections between populations across the state have been restricted or in some cases mostly severed to the point of ten separate subpopulations being identifiable genetically. Several of these subpopulations are at risk of significant decline or extirpation due to low annual survival rates, inbreeding, and worsening habitat loss and fragmentation. In this talk Dr. Vickers will detail the latest scientific findings from across the state that are guiding actions that may increase the odds of long term persistence of puma populations, what individuals can do to assist in their conservation, and will talk about his personal pathway into mountain lion research and conservation.
Dr. Vickers is a wildlife research veterinarian with the University of California-Davis Wildlife Health Center and the Institute for Wildlife Studies. He obtained his DVM at Oklahoma State University and practiced on large, small, and exotic species for over 20 years before returning to school to get his Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis with a focus on wildlife disease and ecology. He has been studying mountain lions and other wildlife for 20 years and directs the UCD Wildlife Health Center’s mountain lion study. He collaborates extensively with other mountain lion researchers, NGO’s, and governmental agencies in the state and elsewhere in the West, and his studies of mountain lions address issues of mortality, connectivity, habitat use, genetics, disease, conservation, and reducing negative interactions with humans and livestock. He also collaborates on studies involving other wildlife species studies, including bobcats, Channel Island foxes, Santa Cruz Island scrub jays and other avian species. He worked for many years with the Wildlife Health Center’s Oiled Wildlife Care Network on oil spill response, and is the author or a co-author of over 35 peer reviewed publications, one book chapter, and numerous white papers and reports to wildlife and other government agencies. He co-developed and directed a 9-part series of short educational documentaries about mountain lions, as well as a one hour film, that have been viewed nearly 1.8 million times and can be viewed here (https://www.camountainlions.com/). His work has been featured in numerous articles in the newspapers and in several books, and he has twice been named one of the 100 most influential individuals in Orange County, CA by the Orange County Register.
January 12, 2022 at 4:00PM – 5:30PM PST
(5:00PM – 6:30PM MT, 6:00PM – 7:30PM CT, 7:00PM – 8:30PM ET)
Arizona is proposing new hunting regulations that will have serious impacts on the native carnivore populations in the state and the ecosystems they depend on. We need your help in advocating to make these new rules as strong as they can be to protect mountain lions and other native carnivores.
Please join the Mountain Lion Foundation, Center for Biological Diversity and Humane Society of the United States for a webinar on the proposed changes being made to the Arizona hunting guidelines. Our staff will explain the changes and how you can help to make sure they do not have a devastating impact on mountain lions, bobcats and bears.
Presenters:
Logan Christian – Region 2 Conservation Advocate, Mountain Lion Foundation
Haley Stewart – Wildlife Program Manager, Humane Society of the United States
Gabe Wigtil – Arizona State Director, Humane Society of the United States
Sophia Ressler – Staff Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity
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.
January 6, 2022 at 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM PST includes limited live Q&A afterwards.
(1:00 PM – 2:30 PM MT, 2:00 – 2:30 PM CT, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET)
Join us as David and Mary Miller have an engaging and informative conversation with Logan Christian about their success using non-lethal predator deterrence and regenerative agriculture practices. With over 25 years of experience, David and Mary’s expertise and insights can be used by other farmers and ranchers, no matter how small.
MLF resources on protecting livestock - https://mountainlion.org/stay-safe/#!protecting-livestock Triple M Bar Ranch - https://www.triplembar.com/ How to choose a LGD - https://modernfarmer.com/2017/09/choose-livestock-guard-dog/ Training support for LGD owners - https://www.facebook.com/groups/lgdtraining
About David & Mary Miller:
David & Mary Miller raise lambs and livestock guard dogs on their ranch in Crowley County. They started their own business, Triple M Bar Ranch, in 1994. Triple M Bar Ranch is a family-owned and operated ranch in Southeastern Colorado. They take pride in raising naturally grown lamb and Livestock guard dogs that are born and raised with their sheep. David and Mary are the main ranch hands. Their ranch headquarters sits on Buckeye Hill in Crowley County on the bluffs overlooking the Arkansas River Valley. They also have grazing land in the valley along the river.
FUZZ: When Nature Breaks the Law. In her new book beloved science writer Mary Roach wrangles a question that has defied satisfactory resolution for centuries: What is the proper course of action when nature breaks laws intended for people? Roach approaches this question with the same keen wit she previously applied to sex (Bonk), death (Stiff), ghosts (Spook), and space (Packing for Mars).
Roach’s globe-spanning survey covers drunken elephants in India, seagull vandals in the Vatican, and our beloved mountain lions in California. She reveals how peace between species is tantalizingly within our reach—if only we could do a better job of keeping respectfully apart.”
Join us for a conversation with author Mary Roach as she discusses her book – “FUZZ: When Nature Breaks the Law” with Mountain Lion Foundation’s own Jessica Janson.
About Mary Roach:
Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestsellers STIFF, SPOOK, BONK, GULP, GRUNT, and PACKING FOR MARS. Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine, among others, and her TED talk made the TED 20 Most Watched list. She has been a guest editor for Best American Science and Nature Writing, a finalist for the Royal Society’s Winton Prize, and a winner of the American Engineering Societies’ journalism award, in a category for which, let’s be honest, she was the sole entrant.
https://www.maryroach.net/fuzz.html
