Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop

and payments made to claimants range from
a low of $22,627 paid in 1999 to a high of
$44,071 paid in 1998 (Table 2). One
hundred percent of the mountain lion
damage claims paid in 2002 was for sheep
depredations. From 1996 to 2002, 84% of
reported lion depredations in Wyoming have
involved sheep, 6% have involved horses,
6% unknown livestock species, and 4% have
involved cattle. An average of 4.9 nuisance
lions were removed annually in the last 10
years while an average of 1 lion was
translocated annually from 1996 – 2002 (no
translocation data available prior to 1996).
PUBLIC ATTITUDES
In 1995, the WGFD contracted with the
Survey Research Center at the University of
Wyoming to determine attitudes and
knowledge of Wyoming residents on
mountain lions and mountain lion
management (Gasson and Moody 1995).
Over 71% of the approximately 500
WYOMING MOUNTAIN LION STATUS REPORT · Becker et al. 69
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP
respondents believed lions were a benefit to
Wyoming. Attitudes toward mountain lion
hunting were generally supportive, with
49.6% agreeing or strongly agreeing that
mountain lion hunting should continue and
29.3% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.
The remaining respondents were either
neutral or did not answer. However, most
(57%) disagreed or strongly disagreed that
hunting lions with dogs should continue as a
legal method of take. Only 25.3% of
respondents agreed or strongly agreed, while
the remaining respondents were neutral or
did not respond to the question. A large
majority of respondents (80.7%) agreed or
strongly agreed that mountain lion hunting
seasons should be modified to avoid
harvesting kittens or running females with
kittens. A large majority of respondents
(71%) were also opposed to the use of dogs
to run and tree lions during non-harvest,
chase seasons.
Table 2. Wyoming ten-year mountain lion damage claim and translocation/removal history (all
causes).
Year # Claims $ Claimed $ Paid Translocations Removals
1993 29 33,214.56 30,002.53
0
1994 26 30,498.51 24,646.00
a
5
1995 11 40,634.67 34,594.67
a
4
1996 14 28,540.96 24,947.95 0 6
1997 20 28,935.16 28,761.50 1 10
1998 28 56,171.39 44,070.79 2 5
1999 21 32,307.63 22,627.43 2 6
2000 20 42,352.69 30,773.59 0 5
2001 15 38,322.79 25,592.46 1 6
2002 13 35,870.99 32,075.05 0 2
Mean 19.7 36,686.74 29,809.20 0.86 4.9
a
No data available.
a