cougar hunting
August 13th, 2005 by Administrator
State cuts back on permits for cougar hunting
Fewer animals: The management programs to aid prey animals have reduced cat populations
A cougar rests in a tree in City Creek Canyon last year. Though more cougars have been sighted in and close to Utah population centers this year, the overall cougar population is down throughout the state, so fewer hunting permits will be issued for the big predators.
A drop in the number of cougars taken by hunters in Utah last year has translated into a sharp decrease in cougar permits for this year.
The Utah Wildlife Board on Thursday approved 143 limited entry permits for the 2005-06 season, well below the 263 permits issued last year.
And the overall harvest objective - cougars to be taken in designated areas, or hunting units - has been reduced from 527 cougars last year to 478 this year.
Why? In a bid to reintroduce bighorn sheep and strengthen the deer herds in different areas around the state, the Division of Wildlife Resources in recent years has increased the number of cougar permits in those areas.
Kevin Bunnell, the DWR’s mammals program coordinator, says the strategy was successful.
The number of cougars taken by hunters dropped from 447 two years ago to 319 last year - the lowest such figure since the 1992-93 season. The average age of the cats also dropped during that span, from 3 1/2 years old to 2 1/2 years.
“We accomplished what we set out to do, so we didn’t need to keep the permit numbers as high as they have been,” said Bunnell. “We put a dent in the cougar population. Now that we’ve done that, we don’t need to keep the pressure as high as it has been.”
The drop in the number of cougars taken last year was notable, Bunnell said, because the heavy snowfall made it easier for hunters to track the animals. Still, there was a 30 percent drop.
The DWR coordinator says the agency still has no real way to accurately count Utah’s cougars, so it relies on year-to-year data identifying the age and gender of the animals taken.
From those and other criteria, Bunnell says DWR can make general observations about how Utah’s cougars are faring.
The difference in average age, for instance, “tells us the cougar population has fewer older animals, which is another indication that cougar populations have declined,” he said.
“There’s no question the state’s cougar populations have been affected by our management strategy over the past 10 years.”
The strategy now, Bunnell added, will be to shift from reducing cougar numbers to balancing the populations of the cats with the deer, elk and bighorn sheep they feed on.
With the limited entry permits and harvest objective units combined, the DWR estimates 250 to 300 cougars will be taken during the upcoming season, which begins Nov. 23.
By Joe Baird
The Salt Lake Tribune