Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop

46 SOUTH DAKOTA MOUNTAIN LION STATUS REPORT · Kintigh
Table 2. Mountain lion depredations, verified depredations, and resulting lion removals in South
Dakota, 1998 – 2002.
Year Number Depredations
Number Depredations
Verified
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP
Number Lions
Removed
1998 1 1 0
1999 0 0 0
2000 2 1 0
2001 3 2 1
2002 4 2 0
Note – one lion has been removed due to livestock depredation in 2003 already.
Personnel are encouraged to take every
opportunity to educate the public regarding
all aspects of living with lions. Each lion
reporting person receives an agency
produced brochure on Mountain Lions.
Public education is emphasized at this time
and every opportunity is taken.
Keeping all options available to
responding staff is very desirable to our
agency. However, we will not pay for any
damages incurred due to wildlife of any
species.
Relocation of problem lions was once
considered, but, due to the geographically
limited area of the Black Hills and the
existing lion population, it has been deemed
an option that was unlikely to produce
desirable results. Unusual circumstances
may arise in which it may be attempted and
the option has not been made totally
unavailable.
In rare cases, usually involving a single
livestock producer, a permit has been issued
for that individual to kill a lion that has been
causing livestock depredation. Usually this
only happens after agency efforts to remove
the offending lion have failed.
Our agency is equipped with a trio of
trained lion hounds managed by an
experienced houndsman. In most situations
that necessitate a lion removal, the action is
lead by our houndsman. Our state trappers
are also equipped with leg snares, which are
generally only set around livestock kills as
the houndsman prepares to arrive on scene.
On a few occasions, when a lion was a
concern, but did not warrant removal we
have chased the lion with hounds to haze the
lion. On at least one occasion the lion was
treed and a radio collar was fitted to increase
our knowledge of its activity.
In regards to livestock depredation, we
currently investigate every report of this but
take slightly different approaches to
resolution depending upon the location.
Livestock kills within the Black Hills
typically require multiple kills before action
to remove the offending lion is initiated.
We are hesitant to remove lions from the
limited quality habitat available in South
Dakota (Table 2). Livestock depredation
complaints on the plains of South Dakota,
where limited habitat and a strong
agricultural industry exists, are addressed
much more decisively and quickly.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
The Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries Sciences at South Dakota State
University is currently completing a 5-year
research project on cougars in the Black
Hills. The main objectives of the research
were to 1) develop and evaluate a cougar
habitat-relation model to predict the current
distribution 2) estimate the population size,
and evaluate survey techniques to document