Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop
Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop
Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop
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2 STATUS OF MOUNTAIN LION POPULATIONS IN ARIZONA · Wakeling<br />
take).<br />
2. Provide recreational opportunity for<br />
3,000 to 6,000 hunters per year.<br />
3. Maintain existing occupied habitat and<br />
maintain <strong>the</strong> present range <strong>of</strong> mountain<br />
lions in Arizona.<br />
Species-Specific Strategies<br />
1. Maintain a complete database from all<br />
harvest sources, through a mandatory<br />
check-out system, including age, sex,<br />
kill location, etc. to index population<br />
trend.<br />
2. Conduct a hunter questionnaire<br />
biannually.<br />
3. Evaluate <strong>the</strong> management implications<br />
<strong>of</strong> population and relative density<br />
estimates.<br />
4. Implement hunt structures to increase<br />
and direct harvest emphasis toward<br />
areas with high lion populations, and<br />
where depredation complaints are<br />
substantiated, and evaluate <strong>the</strong><br />
effectiveness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se efforts.<br />
5. Determine population numbers and<br />
characteristics on a hunt-area basis.<br />
6. Increase public awareness <strong>of</strong> mountain<br />
lions and <strong>the</strong>ir habits, to reduce<br />
conflicts with humans.<br />
7. Implement <strong>the</strong> Department’s Predation<br />
Management Policy.<br />
In addition, management direction is<br />
provided by species management guidelines<br />
and hunt guidelines. In October 2000, <strong>the</strong><br />
Arizona Game and Fish Commission<br />
approved <strong>the</strong> predation management policy<br />
that provides <strong>the</strong> agency guidance as to<br />
when and how to engage in predation<br />
management.<br />
<strong>Mountain</strong> lion management has changed<br />
as a direct result <strong>of</strong> biological investigations<br />
into predation effects. <strong>Mountain</strong> lion<br />
predation is being documented as a factor<br />
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP<br />
that may be regulating prey populations<br />
(Ballard et al. 2001) in some areas <strong>of</strong><br />
Arizona, to include bighorn sheep (Ovis<br />
canadensis) (Kamler et al. 2002) and<br />
pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)<br />
(Ockenfels 1994a, b). These prey<br />
populations are at low levels, and reducing<br />
predator populations is likely to allow those<br />
prey populations to increase in number<br />
(Ballard et al. 2001). The standard bag limit<br />
for mountain lions has been altered in<br />
specific areas to allow for <strong>the</strong> harvest <strong>of</strong> 1<br />
mountain lion per day until a predetermined<br />
number <strong>of</strong> mountain lions are removed that<br />
equal about 50-75% <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> estimated<br />
mountain lion population within that unit, at<br />
which time <strong>the</strong> bag limit reverts back to <strong>the</strong><br />
standard bag limit <strong>of</strong> 1 mountain lion per<br />
calendar year. The only exception to this is<br />
in <strong>the</strong> southwestern portion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state<br />
where if even a single mountain lion is<br />
taken, <strong>the</strong> hunt area will be closed.<br />
Multiple bag limits were implemented in<br />
Units 13A and 13B in 1999, 16A South and<br />
18B South in 2001, 22 South in 1999, and<br />
Units 21 West, 28 South, and 37B North<br />
will be implemented this year. Research<br />
studies in Unit 22 South on bighorn sheep,<br />
that included investigations into nutrition,<br />
disease, and predation, indicate that <strong>the</strong><br />
multiple bag limit on mountain lions in that<br />
area, with increased effort by sportsmen to<br />
harvest mountain lions, seems to be<br />
positively influencing desert bighorn sheep<br />
recruitment and adult female survival. To<br />
implement a multiple bag limit on mountain<br />
lions, biologists must identify a prey species<br />
that has been reduced due to mountain lion<br />
predation (e.g., a declining population below<br />
management objectives) or a management<br />
action that is likely to be impacted by<br />
mountain lion predation (e.g., a planned<br />
translocation) to initiate and identify what<br />
management objectives must be met (e.g., 3<br />
years <strong>of</strong> 50:100 lamb:ewe ratios) before <strong>the</strong><br />
multiple bag limit is removed. Because this