Courtesy Photograph / Texas Parks and Wildlife
Mountain lions are usually present in distant mountains, canyonlands, or hilly areas with good cowl. In Texas, they’re discovered all through the Trans-Pecos area, the brushlands of South Texas and components of the Hill Nation.
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Mountain lions nonetheless roam components of Texas as one of many state’s final remaining native carnivores. On Sept. 1, Texas for the primary time will ban canned mountain lion hunts, which conservationists hope will stop mistreatment of the rarely-sighted predators.
The brand new guidelines, which take impact with the beginning of the brand new searching license cycle, additionally require trappers to test their traps each 36 hours if they aim mountain lions.
Richard Heilbrun, the wildlife range program director on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division, stated the proposal was the results of a collaboration by landowners, ranchers, livestock homeowners, conservationists and biologists. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Fee accredited it in Might.
Violating the brand new guidelines is a Class C misdemeanor, which may end up in a fantastic of as much as $500 however no jail time.
Texans for Mountain Lions, a conservation group based in 2021, stated their 2022 petition, which collected 2,356 signatures and known as for finding out and defending the animals, kick began conversations in regards to the new guidelines.
That petition didn’t achieve traction on the time instantly. However when the company accepted public remark in regards to the proposed guidelines earlier this yr, greater than 90% of the roughly 7,000 feedback have been constructive.
Nonetheless, the Texas Farm Bureau, which represents a whole bunch of 1000’s of the state’s farmers, opposed the brand new guidelines: “This can have a very devastating impression on ranches in West Texas the place mountain lions are far more prevalent,” the group stated.
Texas mountain lions are discovered all through the trans-Pecos area in West Texas, in addition to the brushlands of South Texas and generally within the Hill Nation. Texas Parks and Wildlife officers stated there have additionally been sightings within the Dallas-Fort-Value space and the Panhandle in latest a long time. Recreation cameras and personal safety cameras catch a glimpse of the predators sometimes.
On the Texas-Mexico border in Val Verde County, which had essentially the most confirmed mountain lion sightings over the previous 5 years, Recreation Warden Marco Alvizo just isn’t anticipating the brand new guidelines to drastically change present searching practices.
“Trappers are already checking traps frequently,” he stated, “and canned searching is actually not that massive of a difficulty.”
Warren Cude, a Farm Bureau member and Fort Stockton-based rancher, raises calves and sheep and stated quite a few mountain lions move by way of the realm yearly and their numbers have grown.
Courtesy Photograph / Texas Parks and Wildlife
As apex predators, mountain lions are vital for the well being of your entire ecosystem.
Cude stated he has to search out mountain lions once they begin preying on his livestock; as soon as he stated he misplaced near 80 sheep over three months to a lion. Every animal represented a $300 loss, he stated. And whereas some states like Montana or Washington reimburse ranchers for predator-caused livestock loss, Texas doesn’t.
Heilbrun stated the brand new guidelines gained’t stop landowners from capturing animals which can be killing livestock.
“Hunters can nonetheless harvest a lion, landowners with battle conditions can nonetheless take motion in opposition to it,” he stated.
Cude stated he’s in favor of the brand new ban on canned hunts, through which mountain lions are trapped, then launched later in an enclosed space the place to be hunted.
Cude stated the brand new rules on checking traps each 36 hours shall be a burden that would flip checking traps on his 20,000-acre ranch right into a full-time job.
“It turns into one thing you possibly can’t do when you could have 1000’s of acres,” he stated.
The foundations apply solely to massive vertical snares used to lure mountain lions — smaller snares meant for coyotes are exempted. However Cude stated massive snares used to catch feral hogs would additionally fall below the 36-hour rule.
Heilbrun, the Texas Parks and Wildlife official, stated there are different methods to manage feral hogs,” and most of them are more practical than inserting unbaited snares on fences. When hogs are caught in snares on fences, they usually destroy the fence, and open up gaps to livestock.”
In most different U.S. states, searching mountain lions is intently monitored — there’s a selected searching season and solely a sure variety of animals could be taken every year. Texas has not restricted searching of mountain lions, nonetheless.
“Texas is pretty distinctive in how we handle lions,” Heilbrun stated.
Conservationist Brent Lyles, a biologist and on the nationwide Mountain Lion Basis calls the brand new rules a “modest first step towards widespread sense”.
Lyles stated mountain lions are apex predators which can be vital for the well being of your entire ecosystem by controlling the inhabitants of species like deer and stopping their numbers from skyrocketing. Typically mountain lions goal weakened animals, which retains herds wholesome. Additionally they depart behind carcasses that grow to be meals for birds, bugs and different mammals.
For a report revealed earlier this yr, the Borderlands Analysis Institute adopted 16 tagged mountain lions within the Davis Mountains utilizing GPS knowledge and located that they preyed on deer, elk, feral hogs and javelina. “Importantly, livestock (e.g., home cattle and horses) have been accessible within the research space but have been by no means preyed upon,” the report stated.
Lyles calls it a “persistent fable” that searching mountain lions will lower conflicts between landowners and lions.
“Increasingly analysis is exhibiting that killing established lions creates social chaos among the many lions within the territory,” he stated, including that landowners can use non-lethal strategies to guard livestock together with flashing lights, AM radios taking part in voices or bringing animals into stables throughout the evening.
Lyles stated there’s nonetheless not sufficient stable details about Texas mountain lions.
“Way more knowledge is required to grasp what number of mountain lions are on the market,” he stated. “What are their wants? What are their habitats?”
Disclosure: Texas Farm Bureau and Texas Parks And Wildlife Division have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.
This text initially appeared within the Texas Tribune.
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