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

11) How do we manage real-time GPS data, and do we provide this information to the
public?
12) (Audience) Are cougars getting less management attention since wolves are
getting, and needing, so much of the carnivore manager’s time?
Question Response Summary (Main Themes, Concerns, and Responses)
Theme: How can we integrate cougar awareness with current rates of urbanization
and loss of habitat?
• Concern: Can cougar “danger awareness” be integrated into the land-use
planning process?
• Responses: Cougar managers have an ever-increasing responsibility to get
involved in planning activities and to articulate the consequences and
educational needs that come about when occupied cougar habitat is converted
to residential and urban areas.
Theme: A need exists for a genetic bank for cougar DNA and disease pathology
having national coverage.
• Concern: Who would manage such a repository?
• Responses: Either a University with a well-established genetic lab or a Non-
Governmental Organization (NGO). The Wild Felid Research and
Management Association would be best suited to coordinate a genetic bank.
Samples can be effectively taken using bio-darts, such as in Washington State,
and mandatory check-in of hunter-harvested cougars such as those that are
applied in most western states for collection of biological samples. Strict
guidelines on data usage and data sharing are needed, or there may be low
willingness to participate for fear of unauthorized use of data.
Theme: Integrating cougar research with management plans and actions.
• Concern: There is not enough communication between the scientific
community doing cutting-edge research and decision making agency
managers and commissioners.
• Responses: Researchers need to stay active and provide the latest knowledge
and technology to decision makers like Fish & Game Commissioners and
State Directors/Deputy Directors. The Wild Felid Research and Management
Association were developed to provide a forum to enhance communication
between researchers and managers, as well as a forum for sharing cutting edge
techniques.
Theme: Can current knowledge of source-sink dynamics be applied when
establishing cougar harvest guidelines.
• Concern: The current structure for harvest does not adequately consider our
knowledge of source-sink dynamics for cougar populations.
• Responses: This knowledge does get applied in some states, for instance in
Wyoming. Better state-to-state communication, and sharing of genetic and
other biological information, will help greatly toward achieving management
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