Proceedings of the fifth mountain lion workshop: 27

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP 79
Table 1. Results of the Fort Huachuca track count, Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 1989-1995.
Year No. of
Routes
Miles Total No.
of Tracks
Tracks
per Mile
Mean
Tracks per
Mile
Male Lion
Tracks
Other Lion
Tracks
Male:
Other
Ratio
1989 6 24 11 0.46 0.46 1 10 0.1 0
1990 6 24 4 0.16 0.31 0 4 0 3
1991 6 24 5 0.21 0.28 0 4 0 0
1993 6 20 2 0.10 0.24 0 2 0 1
1994 5 15.3 5, 7
(12) *
1995 5 15.3 7, 8
(15) *
Total 34 122.6 34, 37
(49) *
* Total of both runs.
0.26, 0.46
(0.78) *
0.46, 0.52
(o.98) *
0.28, 0.30
(0.40) *
0.25, 0.27
(0.32) *
0.28, 0.30
(0.40) *
0.28, 0.30
(0.40) *
1, 4
(5) *
4, 2
(6) *
6, 6
(12) *
Table 2. Results of the Canelo Hills track count, Canelo Hills, Arizona, 1995-1996.
Month Number of
Routes
Miles Lions
Tracks
Bobcat
Tracks
4, 3
(7) *
3, 6
(9) *
27, 26
(36) *
0.25, 1.33
(0.75) *
1.33, 0.33
(0.75) *
0.22, 0.23
(0.33) *
Bear Tracks No. of
Participants
Number of
Scrapes
7
8
19
Conditions *
August 1995 5 10.5 0 0 0 12 A
September 1995 4 8.1 0 0 1 18 C
October 1995 4 8.1 2 0 2 17 A
November 1995 8 13.2 1 0 1 24 B
December 1995 1 1.5 0 0 0 11 C
January 1996 4 6.2 1 1 1 13 A
February 1996 3 9.1 0 0 0 11 C
March 1996 3 6.2 0 1 0 5 A
Total 32 62.9 4 2 5 111
* A=Excellent, B=Moderate, C=Weathered Out
survey (Table 1), but the average track density recorded is
similar to results from other areas considered to be good lion
habitat in Arizona (Shaw et al., 1988). The low count for
1993 was attributed to poor tracking conditions due to adverse
weather conditions, primarily rain. At the present time, the
principal results of the track count can be summarized as
follows: 1) the track count consistently is able to record the
presence of lions; 2) we find that a sampling rate of 1 mile of
survey route per 1.5 to 2.3 mi 2 of habitat consistently results
in the recording of lion tracks. While these estimates are
crude at best, they provide an estimate of the sampling rate
needed to detect presence of lions in areas where the lion
densities are thought to be relatively high (based on our own
assessments); 3) over the six years of the track count a running
average of about 0.28 tracks per mile of route seems to be
robust. This corresponds to an estimated lion density in the
range of approximately 1 adult lion per 10 to 20 mi 2 of habitat.
We note however, at this time we have no true measure of this
density for the area. In the future, changes in the yearly track
density with respect to this running average may provide
information about short-term changes; 4) there has been an
increase in the ratio of male tracks to other (immature male or
female) lion tracks recorded since 1994. The years of 1990,
1991 and 1993 yielded no tracks determined to be from
mature males. In contrast, the increase in tracks for the
second count in 1994 and for both counts in 1995 (see Table
1), was due to tracks classified as those of mature males.
While the early counts appear to be low in males, the
cumulative total gives a ratio that is, perhaps, consistent with
ratios that have been observed in other populations; and 5)