Abstract
Puma (Puma concolor) management in the western United States is highly contentious, particularly with regard to the use of sport hunting as a management tool. Since the 1970s, puma in ten western states have been managed by state fish and game agencies through the use of a sport hunt. The rationale presented by wildlife managers is that sport hunting, in addition to providing recreational hunting opportunities, also reduces threats to human safety and livestock safety, and increases populations of the puma’s ungulate prey, namely deer (Odocoileus sp.) and elk (Cervus elepus). We evaluated these claims using the state of California as a control, which has prohibited sport hunting since 1972, and employing data obtained from state and federal agencies with authority and control over puma management. Specifically, we tested four hypotheses: 1) sport hunting will suppress puma populations, 2) sport hunting will reduce the number of problematic puma-human encounters; 3) sport hunting will reduce puma predation on domestic livestock, and 4) sport hunting will reduce the impact of puma predation on wild ungulate numbers, resulting in increased hunting opportunities for the sport hunt of ungulates. Our results indicated, respectively, that relative to the 10 states where puma are hunted, California had 1) similar puma densities, 2) the 3rd lowest per capita problematic puma-human encounters, 3) similar per capita loss of cattle (P = 0.13) and a significantly lower (t = 5.7, P < 0.001) per capita loss of sheep, and 4) similar average deer densities while changes in annual deer populations correlated with changes in other states (F = 95.4, P < 0.001, R2 = 0.68). In sum, our analysis of the records obtained from state and federal wildlife agencies found no evidence that sport hunting of pumas has produced the management outcomes sought by wildlife managers aside from providing a sport hunting opportunity. Consequently, and particularly because other research suggests that sport hunting actually exacerbate conflicts between pumas and humans, we recommend that state agencies re-assess the use of sport hunting as a management tool for pumas.
Highlights
Pumas (Puma concolor), like the other predators in North America, were viewed by European colonialists and their descendants as threats to human safety and domestic livestock as well as competition for wild ungulates, mainly deer (Odocoileus sp) and elk (Cervus elepus) [1]
Employing the guidelines of adaptive management [5], it is appropriate to ask whether sport hunting has been successful in meeting management objectives over the ~ 45 years since it was initiated in the western U.S In doing so, we identified four hypotheses that emerge from desired outcomes articulated by state management agencies
The results of these comparisons concur with a growing number of regional studies that find no consistent evidence that sport hunting is functioning as an effective management tool
Summary
Pumas (Puma concolor), like the other predators in North America, were viewed by European colonialists and their descendants as threats to human safety and domestic livestock as well as competition for wild ungulates, mainly deer (Odocoileus sp) and elk (Cervus elepus) [1]. There remained the perception among wildlife managers that some level of control was still necessary to prevent puma populations from growing to socially unacceptable levels where they might threaten human safety, livestock interests, and population objectives for big game, principally deer [5] (https://idfg.idaho.gov/wildlife/predator-management). They were viewed as providing an additional sport hunting opportunity to hunters. The two exceptions of this management approach are Texas, where pumas are unprotected and can be hunted without license or limit, and California, where pumas are fully protected from sport hunting and managed through relocation or killing of individuals puma that pose a threat to public safety, livestock or threaten the viability of bighorn sheep populations (https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/keep-me-wild/lion, Accessed on February 28, 2018, https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion/ Depredation, Accessed on February 28, 2018)
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