The blog of the Cougar Rewilding Foundation
Posted in Cougar Rewilding Foundation, Government Agency, Hunting, S. Dakota on Apr 3rd, 2013
As many predicted, as we predicted, despite SDGF& P’s re-estimate raising the Black Hills cougar census, and after several years of unsustainable quotas, 2013′s hunt came up significantly short of the 100 cat quota; 35 short of the female sub quota. However, an additional 17 cats were killed during the hunt for other reasons, at [...]
Posted in Co-existence, Education, Hunting, Livestock attacks, Preservation, Washington on Feb 27th, 2013
Washington State University’s Large Carnivore Conservation Lab has provided 15 years of research on cougar social dynamics. As we’ve pointed out previously, their results have demonstrated how sport hunting (which tends to target ordering big toms) shreds the cougar’s social network and increases conflicts with pets, livestock and us. The conclusion to this video, which [...]
Posted in Government Agency, Hunting, Idaho, Montana, Reintroduction, Trapping, USFWS, USFWS Delisting, Wolves, Wyoming on Feb 11th, 2013
Norman Bishop, retired Yellowstone Park ranger and big game sportsman cites the latest stats on wolf recovery and wolf management in the Northern Rockies. The Wildlife News The wolf issue: What science suggests; the players, and our role. By Norman A. Bishop I will briefly sample a few recent studies, many of which were enabled by wolf [...]
Posted in Co-existence, Government Agency, Hunting, Idaho, Montana, Reintroduction, Trapping, USFWS, USFWS Delisting, Wolves, Wyoming on Feb 11th, 2013
On the heels of federal de-listing in the Northern Rockies, a stew of paramilitary anti-federalists, anti-conservationists, welfare ranchers, and fantasies of private hunter ownership over public, taxpayer supported public ungulates are behind the decimation of recovering wolf populations. Earth Island Journal James William Gibson Lynne Stone, longtime wolf advocate and executive director of central Idaho’s Boulder [...]
Posted in Government Agency, Hunting, Nebraska, Preservation, Recolonization, USFWS on Jan 26th, 2013
The first female cougar has been documented east of the Nebraska Pine Ridge population, along the Niobrora River Valley, part of which is managed by the US Park Service and the USFWS. As Nebraska considers its first hunt, the feds have an obligation to ensure that any nascent breeding cougar populations are protected. NEBRASKAlandMAGAZINE.com LINCOLN, [...]
Posted in Education, Government Agency, Hunting, Preservation on Jan 21st, 2013
In an essay echoing our most recent newsletter, hunter, ecologist and essayist George Wuerthner details what’s wrong with state management of predators, a sentiment shared by cougar hunter Bob Speirs here. We’ll offer alternatives to Pittman-Robertson funding and how to more equitably reform this mess in our next newsletter. The Wildlife News State Agency Game [...]
With just 22 cats roaming the Pine Ridge National Forest and adjacent parkland, Nebraska announces the potential for a hunt next year. We can only hope that science and common sense prevail and Nebraska decides not to look to South Dakota as its model. Scottsbluff Star-Herald Nebraska’s first mountain lion hunting season could begin as [...]
Posted in Hunting, Other Large Cats of the World, Preservation, Texas on Jan 21st, 2013
The Dallas Safari Club and a host of distinguished signatores support limits on African lion takes based on lion population dynamics. Washington State has recently adopted a similar limit on cougars based on research done at Washington State University. Such an endorsement from the DSC closer to home might begin to stem the tide of [...]