Comment on Proposition 127
Richard P. Reading, PhD, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, is right about the point on lions controlling their own population, but it’s way too simple of an explanation. Predator/prey relationships may reach a type of balance but are really in a constant flux. Let me explain the “cat family” population self-control method. The territorial male circulates his domain scraping with other males for dominance. When he contacts a female with kittens, and he kills the kittens of any age, and maybe the female if she fights hard. This is done to make the female come into estrus for him to breed. Older kittens that escape the attack are pushed into other areas — possibly urban and residential. Additionally, all mountain lions kill any bobcats in their area that they can catch. So, in cougar population dynamics, the sport hunting might actually increase the population by removing a territorial male, giving the kittens a chance to mature, while increasing genetic diversity. Just because cats can control their populations is no reason to trash our scientific modeling.
Other factors in “natural law” influence populations — this is JustusVon Liebigs “Law of the Minimum,” fire, disease, weather, habitat destruction and human encroachment of any kind changes behaviors. Populations of prey species will increase in good habitat until disease or weather causes a collapse. Predator species will collapse approximately one year later.
I have to laugh at the “California Dreamin'” propaganda that the California lion hunting ban is working to the benefit of anyone or to the lion’s benefit. I have heard for many years that the Nevada Wildlife Department has to tell California to stop dumping lions into their state. Maybe hearsay? I don’t know, however, California is certain not to tell us.
I do know that recently the California Department of Wildlife removed two young male lions from a cat saturated area. They moved the lions south into the desert. One lion returned north through urban areas and the other stayed behind and starved to death. Why couldn’t they have been relocated to a northern mountainous area? My opinion is that every region of California has its own “indigenous” lions and the regions are at capacity. In my estimation, this is unacceptable wildlife management.
In defense of sporting hunting, territorial male lions are always on “patrol,” 24/7/365 to their own pleasure. Colorado cat hunting seasons are well regulated. All lions and bobcats taken by hunters must be inspected and sealed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers. Lions are regulated by quotas in given areas, and this helps regulate the prey species too. When that quota is reached, the season is over. Females with kittens or kittens with black leg stripes are illegal to kill. While lions are difficult to hunt, bobcats are very hard to hunt, with most outings resulting in coming home with nothing — cats are not even seen. Lynx are illegal to hunt or harass.
Remember, sport hunting licenses fund our Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Angling, hunters, wardens, biologists, habitat improvements and restoration projects, acquiring new state parks and wildlife areas, fighting invasive species and disease, like zebra mussels, chronic wasting disease or CWD, game damage, endangered special restoration and whirling disease. All these are dependent on license sales.
Preservation is not conservation. It is a cold hard fact that any endeavor must be profitable to be sustainable. Because natural resources are renewable, license fees are a must for conservation funding, and an investment for all our futures. Note that if a species is not making money, it might well be costing money, like wolves at 4.7 million to date.
Don’t be fooled, hunters, anglers, ranchers and farmers are the real wildlife conservationists, working with organizations like Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever and many individuals donating money, time and providing habitat for all species.
I disagree sharply with Reading on the idea that lions help control CWD. Because carriers of CWD can be infected up to five years before showing symptoms, any kills would be strictly random. Secondly, because lions are sight hunters, it is the skittish movement and flight that stimulates a lion attack. Lethargic, sick animals, that are concealed in brush go unnoticed. This is strictly my opinion, but I think lions have a type of aversion to sick animals.
It is the bear with large olfactory and vomer nares that eat sick animals. However, most people cannot read the difference of a kill site, and lions take the responsibility.
Soul Among Lions by Harley Shaw (University of Arizona Press) is a book that I would suggest for further reading. There is a claim by some biologists that lions help control CWD, however, there is evidence that suggests scavenging birds and predators might actual spread (not control) these deadly CWD prions, we just don’t know.
These is a new disease that has broken out in the Colorado mountain lion population. The common name is staggering disease, because of the loss of muscle control the cats exhibit. It is always fatal. It is the Rustrela virus and is akin to Rubella virus.
Rewilding is not habituation — there is no end of people going to Yellowstone Park, and going up next to a bear or buffalo, and feeling entitled and empowered. I believe there is an emotion in most people that makes them think that they are part of the wild; and that they think that they are the animals’ advocates— they think it is rewilding. Colorado Parks and Wildlife implores people to stop feeding wildlife, to leave young wildlife alone, and to keep dogs on a leash. People do not realize how adversely they impact wildlife. Out here, there is just predator and prey, no mystic moral high ground; just life, fear, pain and death. There are no rescues or heroes. It may seem cruel and brutal, but it is natural. Every living creature is just a meal for something else. There is no compassion in nature, and there is no way to force compassion on it. Emotions begat fantasy. Activism saves nothing.
Another horrible misconception among some people is that if animals are left alone, we can coexist with them. Nothing is farther from the truth. Any wild animal that is not pressured in some form will always become habituated to human presence and become more aggressive. A lion on the deck of a house is a problem, not a solution.
The way to coexist with animals is to keep a healthy element of fear in them. Hunting works wonderfully — “hunting” includes humans in the ecosystem-sustainable, profitable, rewarding.
