Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop

138
MANAGEMENT OF COUGARS (PUMA CONCOLOR) IN THE WESTERN UNITED
STATES
DEANNA DAWN, San Jose State University, Biology Department
MICHEAL KUTILEK, San Jose State University, Biology Department
RICK HOPKINS, Live Oak Associates, Inc.
SELEHKA ANAND, San Jose State University, Biology Department
STEVE TORRES, California Department of Fish and Game
Abstract: In the U.S., cougar (Puma concolor) populations still exist in 13 western states. While
sport hunting of cougars remains a management goal for 10 of these states, there is little
information on how different hunting harvest strategies affect their biology. Both the rate of
harvest and the percentage of females in the harvest affect population stability. Therefore, the
purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different harvest strategies on the harvest rate
and the percentage of females in the harvest. Annual hunting harvest records were requested
from all 10 states and were summarized into a database for analysis. Harvest strategies that
included female sub-quotas were associated with the lowest percentage of females removed,
however they also had some of the highest annual rates of harvest. These results suggest that, for
some states, management strategies used in regulating sport hunting may offer little protection
against over-harvesting the population.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP