Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop - Carnivore ...

We calculated the proportion of resident adult cougars and resident adult females
harvested annually in Unit 26 during 1998-2006 from the proportion of adult and adult
female age–sex classes harvested during 1998-2006 in the Warren DAU, the mean annual
harvest in Unit 26, and the number of resident adults and resident adult females identified
during the 1999-2002 research period (Akenson et al. 2005). These calculations assumed
that all adult cougars in Unit 26 were residents and the adult population throughout the
1998-2006 time period was within the range of resident cougar population estimates
determined during the 1999-2002 research.
Results
DAU Comparisons
Although there was considerable annual variation among DAUs, 4 of 5 study DAUs had
declining cougar harvest levels after a late 1990s peak, with the exception being the
Pocatello DAU (Fig. 4). Over a 3-decade period the proportion of females in the harvest
first decreased slightly then increased for all study DAUs except Pocatello DAU (Fig. 5).
Consistently, the highest proportions of females in the harvest were in the 2 wilderness
DAUs: Warren and Selway. Cougar harvest during the period 1998-2006 consisted
primarily of adult animals for Warren, Selway and Salmon DAUs and subadults for
Pocatello and Oakley DAUs (Fig. 6). Females represented 47% of the Warren and
Selway DAU harvests during 1998-2006, among the highest proportions in the state,
while Salmon DAU, with 38% female harvest had the lowest proportion of females in the
harvest statewide. Adult females represented 33% of harvest in Warren DAU and 31%
of harvest in Selway DAU, which were the highest proportions of adult female harvest
among all 18 Idaho Cougar DAUs. The Pocatello DAU had only 18% adult females in
the harvest; the lowest proportion statewide. Selway, Warren, and Salmon DAUs had a
greater proportion of adult males than subadult males in the harvest during 1998-2006,
while Pocatello and Oakley DAUs had a greater proportion of subadults (Fig. 6). Older
age classes of males were well represented in cougar harvests from Warren, Selway, and
Salmon DAUs, but not in Pocatello and Oakley DAUs (Fig. 7).
Proceedings of the Ninth Mountain Lion Workshop
175