Cougars at Risk

OREGON COUGAR ALERT!

July 19, 2011 Update - We are pleased to report that Oregon legislators failed to overturn the will of the voters. The Senate killed the anti-couger bill that would not die. Thanks for speaking out to keep hounds off cougars' backs! READ MORE

Photo of mother cougar with kitten by Bill Dow

Mother cougar & kitten. Photo by Bill Dow.



Private sport hunters in Oregon are allowed to kill hundreds of cougars each year. We're working to protect this keystone species.



Issues & News

2011 Oregon Cougar Plan Update: Safety Takes Back Seat to Hunting and Ranching

April 2011 - As the Oregon Cougar Plan moves into its final year, its management strategy is now transparent: increase cougar mortality strictly for the benefit of hunting and ranching interests at the expense of public safety.

Government agents killed an additional 46 cougars in 2009 as the Cougar Plan moved into its fourth year. As of April 2010, 146 cougars have been indiscriminately killed in circumscribed target zones where agents use packs of dogs and snares to immobilize the cats before shooting them. None of these animals had a history of causing threat to public safety or livestock.

Although kittens and sub-adults were killed, the majority of cougars were adults. Indiscriminate killing like this removes dominant animals from their territory, opening the area up to juveniles—the age class responsible for the majority of conflicts with people and livestock. Rather than improving the very slight risk of danger from cougars, the plan is actually increasing risk to the public and livestock. (Please see ‘”Top Cougar Biologist Weighs in on Oregon’s Cougar Management Plan,” and Cougars in Chaos.

Although the plan was purportedly created in 2006 for the protection of the public, four out of the five target zones are designed to kill cougars in order to increase hunter opportunity. In other words, the plan is killing cougars so that their prey will be available to deer and elk hunters. The Plan has become a tool to benefit hunters at the expense of public safety. There is one target zone where cougars are killed to benefit livestock producers.

Last year a total of 45,375 hunters carried a cougar tag. If the hunter kills a cougar they have the option to buy a second tag. Almost 500 cougars were killed in 2009. This is more than double the number of cougars killed prior to 1994 when sport hounding of cougars with pursuit dogs was banned. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has profited handsomely from the huge increase in tag sales, which is only one of several management changes put in place in the last 15 years to increase the number of cougars killed.

Oregon Cougar Management Plan Calls for Slaughter

Spring 2011 marks the end of the fifth year of the five-year Oregon Cougar Management Plan. The sole objective of this plan is to kill more cougars. There is no proactive component in the plan, such as education, prevention or non-lethal controls; the plan simply adds another veneer of killing to mortality figures that are already at an all time high.

Government agents have dumped over 200 additional bodies on the pile of approximately 500 cats killed in Oregon every year, primarily by hunters. The cost to the state of Oregon adds up to $3,074 per dead cougar and the loss of any respect that might be due to an agency that based its wildlife management on sound science.

Comments submitted during the public comment period when the plan was introduced in 2005 and 2006 were overwhelmingly opposed to the plan. Criticism came from not only the public, but from numerous scientists. Although Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW, the authors of the plan) conducted a very limited peer review, the best minds in cougar biology severely criticized the plan--primarily for its flawed population model, which indicated an impossibly high rate of population growth. None of the widespread and specific criticisms resulted in any changes to the plan.

The plan’s purported objective is to protect public safety and livestock from cougar attacks, despite current laws that liberally allow for the removal or killing of cats causing livestock damage or threatening public safety. The original three target areas, which define the criteria for and location where cougars were killed included: one area to improve public safety, another area to prevent livestock damage, and a final area to protect elk populations for hunters. After four years, the evaluation of the plan indicated the public safety target area did not result in any benefits and was eliminated; and four additional target areas were established to increase elk and deer populations for hunting.

National Agriculture Statistics Service data show that nationally only 5% of cattle losses are due to predators, while 95% are due to disease and poor husbandry. Of the 5%, less than .3% of losses can be attributed to cougars. Nationally, 37% of sheep losses are due to predation; 63% are due to other causes. In Oregon, less than 2% of sheep and lamb losses are due to cougars and 4% are due to dogs. Clearly, cougars are not a significant source of loss to livestock growers.

The Center for Statistics of the Oregon Health Center data collected in Oregon over a 16-year period show 41 people killed by horses, 13 by bees and wasps, 9 by cattle, 0 by cougars. There has never been a documented attack by a cougar on a person, much less a fatality, in Oregon’s history. According to leading cougar experts, the likelihood of being attacked by a cougar is less than the odds of winning the lottery – roughly one in 25 million.

Evaluation of the best science and statistics available do not support the ODFW’s management of cougars. The public has little to fear from cougars, and the livestock industry could better use the $300+ thousand (and counting) dollars poured into the plan to protect cattle and sheep by improving husbandry. It is now undeniably clear that pubic safety has been nothing more than a weak justification for killing, and that livestock and hunting interests are really driving the plan.

Top Biologist Weighs in on Oregon’s Cougar Management Plan

In his report on the Oregon Cougar Management Plan, Dr. Robert Wielgus, Director of the Large Carnivore Conservation Lab at Washington State University, asserted that the plan, adopted by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in April 2006, lacks any scientific credibility. He contends that the authors must go back to the drawing board and begin again. “The authors should consult with reputable wildlife scientists and statisticians to obtain a reliable experimental design, analysis, and report. We recommend they consult with Scientists at Oregon State University, University of Oregon, or another research university to design a scientifically credible study.”

Further, he contends that no valid scientific conclusions supporting the beneficial effects of administrative removal of cougars can be drawn from this study. There was no scientific evidence presented that administrative removals achieved any of the stated goals (reduced complaints, livestock depredations, and increased number of elk calves).

Predator Defense Fights for Oregon's Cougars

March 2009 - Three years into Oregon's ill-conceived Cougar Management Plan, it has been responsible for adding almost 100 more cougars to the state's growing body count. In addition to the increasing number of cougars killed by private hunters every year, government agents set traps and snares and use packs of hounds to immobilize and then shoot 92 more cougars, including 18 kittens. This indiscriminate killing of cougars by the government will continue under the plan until 2011.

Oregon Law Deals Major Blow to Cougars

A 2007 Oregon law allows private hunters to hunt cougars with dogs.

Unverified Cougar Incident Reports

In Washington, the Department of Fish and Wildlife records all cougar incident reports on a new website. Only 3 of the last 49 "sightings" were verified.

Related Articles & Papers

Data on Cougars in Oregon

Other Groups Working to Protect Cougars

Founded in 2001 to protect America's greatest cat, The Cougar Fund has garnered national media coverage for an attention-getting book and documentary short film. They educate children and adults on the value of cougars through funding and promoting the use of sound science and by monitoring state policies.



Spotlight on Cougars

Other Animals at Risk

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