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

In terms of education and outreach involving sport hunters, 27% of responding agencies
offered some type of education to help hunters distinguish gender or age of cougars; 2
agencies (13%) had mandatory programs (CO and WA) (Table 12). Of the 74% that did
not have a program, 67% said they were not considering implementing one at this time
(Table 12).
In Mexico, all researchers worked closely with local communities to provide education
on conflict prevention within their project areas. However, because there was no agency
support for an education program, education was limited across the jurisdiction.
Table 12. Agency efforts to educate cougar hunters, by jurisdiction, as reported in a
survey of North American wildlife agencies, 2008.
Do You Have an
Education Program
Jurisdiction to Help Hunters If No, Is Your Agency
distinguish Gender
or Age of Cougar?
Considering One? If Yes, How is it offered?
Alberta No Not at this time N/A
Arizona No Not at this time N/A
California No Hunting is illegal N/A
Colorado Yes N/A Mandatory, online or written
Florida No Hunting is illegal N/A
Idaho No No longer available N/A
Montana No Yes N/A
Nevada No Not at this time N/A
New Mexico No Not at this time N/A
Oregon No Not at this time N/A
South Dakota No Yes N/A
Texas No Not at this time N/A
Utah Yes N/A Brochures provided with license
Mandatory, brochures provided
Washington
Yes N/A
with license
Wyoming Yes N/A Voluntary, online or written
Discussion and Management Implications
Cougar Management Plans
Results of this survey brought to light the challenges and complexities inherent in
managing cougars. We found that agencies put a considerable amount of effort and
resources into addressing biological, social, and political concerns and incorporating
input from outside sources and user groups. The differences among management plans
were seen primarily in the amount of time in which plans were updated. Sixty three
percent of the responding agencies said their plans were updated every 7-9 or 10+ years.
In general, most agency management plans served more as a guide than a rigorously
adhered document. In some cases, management plans may be used to structure sporthunting
seasons, incorporate quotas, and adjust quotas to reach harvest goals. With this
type of flexibility (specific to harvest), updating management plans every 1-3 years may
not be necessary. However, all agencies said that research, harvest statistics, peer-
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