Liberty Belle
Well-known member
Do we have too many mountain lions in South Dakota? This should tell us the answer to that question:
4 lions shot on opening day
By Mark Watson, Black Hills Pioneer
November 02, 2007
BLACK HILLS - The highly controversial mountain lion season is off to its fastest start yet.
Last year two lions were killed opening day, and the season limits were 25 mountain lions, or eight females. The season ended when the eighth female was shot about a month into the season.
Four female lions were killed opening day of the 2007 season, said Mike Kintigh, a regional supervisor with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
The first, a 2-year-old female, was killed Thursday near Galena.
The second was a 1 and a half-year-old female killed by a deer hunter near Dalton Lake Road. It had never lactated.
The third lion killed was an 85-pound, 3-year-old female shot near Mt. Roosevelt, near Deadwood. Kintigh said this lion was thin but otherwise in good health. She had kittens at one time, but was not currently nursing.
The fourth lion was a 2-year-old female that had not lactated yet. It was killed in Williams Draw, south of Deerfield.
Kintigh said he was not surprised at the lions all being young females.
"The bulk of our lion population is going to be made up of lions 2-years-old or less," he said. If they are real young, less that 1, they are probably still with mom, and the way our laws are written, they should not be shot".
Lions seen together, regardless of their size, may not be shot.
"We would consider that a family group and we don't want the female removed," he previously said.
If there is anything here that surprises me is on two fronts, he said. "One that we haven't had a male taken yet, we have four lions, but when you break the ratio down our population is probably going to be one to four, one to six, right in there. ... The other things that surprises me a little bit is that we haven't had a radio-collared lion taken yet. We have 75 lions out there wearing radio collars. You really can't say much about this till you get to the end of the season and see how many you took. But if we harvest 20 mountain lions, we hit the female quota of 15, and the season ends and we haven't taken one radio-collared lion - our estimate is 200-225 mountain lions (in the Black Hills) - if we have 75 collared you would almost expect one in four harvested to have a collar. If we get to the end of the season and don't see that, we are going to have pretty strong evidence that the population is even higher yet.
Kintigh stressed a lot of things are going to change and it is a bit like asking a coach one minute into a game and ask "how is it going to go?"
The season will close Dec. 31 or when the 35 lion or 15 female lion quota is reached.
It is mandatory that all harvested mountain lions be reported to Game, Fish and Parks personnel within 24 hours of harvest. In the Black Hills, the harvested lions can be checked in at the Rapid City Game, Fish and Parks Office, which is located at 3305 West South St. Hunters who are successful in taking a mountain lion must call 394-2391 during weekday office hours, which are set at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call State Radio at 393-8121 during nights and weekends. Arrangements can then be made to have a Game, Fish and Parks representative meet the hunter at the Rapid City Game, Fish and Parks Regional Office.
©The Black Hills Pioneer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1300&dept_id=156925&newsid=18984193&PAG=461&rfi=9
4 lions shot on opening day
By Mark Watson, Black Hills Pioneer
November 02, 2007
BLACK HILLS - The highly controversial mountain lion season is off to its fastest start yet.
Last year two lions were killed opening day, and the season limits were 25 mountain lions, or eight females. The season ended when the eighth female was shot about a month into the season.
Four female lions were killed opening day of the 2007 season, said Mike Kintigh, a regional supervisor with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
The first, a 2-year-old female, was killed Thursday near Galena.
The second was a 1 and a half-year-old female killed by a deer hunter near Dalton Lake Road. It had never lactated.
The third lion killed was an 85-pound, 3-year-old female shot near Mt. Roosevelt, near Deadwood. Kintigh said this lion was thin but otherwise in good health. She had kittens at one time, but was not currently nursing.
The fourth lion was a 2-year-old female that had not lactated yet. It was killed in Williams Draw, south of Deerfield.
Kintigh said he was not surprised at the lions all being young females.
"The bulk of our lion population is going to be made up of lions 2-years-old or less," he said. If they are real young, less that 1, they are probably still with mom, and the way our laws are written, they should not be shot".
Lions seen together, regardless of their size, may not be shot.
"We would consider that a family group and we don't want the female removed," he previously said.
If there is anything here that surprises me is on two fronts, he said. "One that we haven't had a male taken yet, we have four lions, but when you break the ratio down our population is probably going to be one to four, one to six, right in there. ... The other things that surprises me a little bit is that we haven't had a radio-collared lion taken yet. We have 75 lions out there wearing radio collars. You really can't say much about this till you get to the end of the season and see how many you took. But if we harvest 20 mountain lions, we hit the female quota of 15, and the season ends and we haven't taken one radio-collared lion - our estimate is 200-225 mountain lions (in the Black Hills) - if we have 75 collared you would almost expect one in four harvested to have a collar. If we get to the end of the season and don't see that, we are going to have pretty strong evidence that the population is even higher yet.
Kintigh stressed a lot of things are going to change and it is a bit like asking a coach one minute into a game and ask "how is it going to go?"
The season will close Dec. 31 or when the 35 lion or 15 female lion quota is reached.
It is mandatory that all harvested mountain lions be reported to Game, Fish and Parks personnel within 24 hours of harvest. In the Black Hills, the harvested lions can be checked in at the Rapid City Game, Fish and Parks Office, which is located at 3305 West South St. Hunters who are successful in taking a mountain lion must call 394-2391 during weekday office hours, which are set at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call State Radio at 393-8121 during nights and weekends. Arrangements can then be made to have a Game, Fish and Parks representative meet the hunter at the Rapid City Game, Fish and Parks Regional Office.
©The Black Hills Pioneer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1300&dept_id=156925&newsid=18984193&PAG=461&rfi=9