Foxes, badgers and hares sold as live bait in underground wildlife trade
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Could recent ‘self-defense’ killing of mountain lion sway public on proposed hunting ban?
- By Spencer McKee
- Oct 3, 2024 Updated Oct 4, 2024
- https://denvergazette.com/outtherecolorado/news/could-recent-self-defense-killing-of-mountain-lion-sway-public-on-proposed-hunting-ban/article_293c6984-81c1-11ef-9e5a-b76ed13edbed.html
Instagram user Patrick Montgomery recently shared additional details related to the killing of a mountain lion in Colorado, with some of this information said to address what took place from the side of the person who killed the animal. Montgomery’s post about the situation is accompanied by numerous photos of the big cat (warning: graphic in nature), along with the shovel presumably used to kill the animal.
In case you missed initial reporting on the situation, Colorado Parks and Wildlife detailed how a man was at a campground west of Cañon City on September 26 when a mountain lion was being abnormally aggressive toward the man and his dog. As the mountain lion approached the pair and shortened the distance to about 10 feet, wildlife officials say the man’s dog engaged the animal, with the man then striking the lion with a shovel and killing it. Officials noted that the preliminary investigation pointed to justified self-defense.
The post from Montgomery claims to provide additional detail on the matter, noting that the man involved was a friend of a friend who is a raft guide living in a camper near the Royal Gorge. The post explains that the incident took place around midnight, with the lion said to have targeted the man’s husky. The guide reportedly grabbed the shovel and whacked the big cat to get it to leave, but when it returned, he struck it again, ultimately killing the animal in order to protect himself and his dog.
While officials aren’t considering this to be a mountain lion ‘attack’ on a human because the man involved wasn’t injured and didn’t come in direct contact with the mountain lion, the additional information related to the encounter is enough to send chills down any outdoor recreator’s spine. Mountain lions are rarely seen and aggressive behavior toward humans is even more rare, but this situation goes to show that dangerous encounters are still a very real possibility.
This incident took place weeks before Coloradans are set to vote on whether or not the hunting of mountain lions (and other wild cats) should be allowed in Colorado, with hunting often considered to be a key method of population management.
The ballot item that will be voted on is Initiative 127, with proponents for the ban claiming that hunting causes animals unjust pain and trauma, also positing that mountain lion (and bobcat) populations are able to naturally self-regulate without a need for involvement in Colorado’s hunting program. It’s also worth noting that those who support this ban would still be agreeing that self-defense killings are justified.
Meanwhile, those who oppose the initiative argue that the measure would restrict the abilities of Colorado Parks and Wildlife to use their expertise to make science-based decisions related to the management of the local mountain lion population, also noting that the current approach toward management of the species seems to be working as the state’s mountain lion population is quite healthy. Additionally, those against proposition 127 have noted that increased mountain lion numbers could mean more frequent damages sustained by ranchers due to depredation of livestock, with these ranchers also losing the ability to seek reimbursement for damages should the initiative pass.
This ballot initiative comes a few years after wolf reintroduction was narrowly approved by Colorado voters via a similar method. That approval has since been questioned countless times by those who opposed the measure with the term ‘ballot box biology’ often linked to the program – this term being a reference to voters making decisions related to the management of the state’s wildlife instead of allowing those decisions to be made by wildlife experts hired by the state.
As it relates to this recent Cañon City encounter, some of those leaving comments about the situation online have expressed concern that this type of encounter could happen more frequently if the local mountain lion population is left unchecked. Additionally, concern has been expressed related to what an increased mountain lion population could mean for Colorado’s prey animals, such as deer.
Those wondering whether or not hunting may have an impact on Colorado’s mountain lion numbers may want to consider the impact of a mountain lion hunting ban that was put in place in California, where lions haven’t been hunted since 1972, with cougars later classified as a ‘non-game’ species in 1990 (it’s a different state with different factors, but perhaps the most comparable example of a similar situation in the US). In a study related to the population of California’s mountain lions that spanned years of 1906 to 2018, the population was estimated to be at its highest around the start of the 1900s, dipping to a low around the time that the mountain lion hunting ban was enacted. Since the ban, the population has continued to grow, approaching levels much closer to those seen 100 years ago by 2018 (chart seen on page 75 of this document). This presumably points to a ban on hunting having the potential to mean a larger mountain lion population.
And then there’s the question of what a larger mountain lion population might mean for local ungulates.
As it currently stands, around 500 mountain lions are killed via hunting each year in Colorado. With adult mountain lions killing approximately one deer per week for consumption, the absence of 500 cats means that roughly 26,000 additional deer have a chance to escape death (napkin math, I know). It’s estimated that there are around 400,000 to 450,000 deer statewide, with this 26,000 number representing about five to seven percent of that population. It’s also worth noting that the average lifespan of a mountain lion in the wild is about eight to 13 years, thus multiple years of survival in the absence of death via hunting would need to be taken into account if the 500 mountain lions killed by Colorado hunters each year were to keep predating on ungulates for years to come. There’s debate over whether or not this additional predation would impact the stability of the deer population or help qualm concerns related to chronic wasting disease, which plagues local cervids and thrives when high population density is present.
While Initiative 127 is heavily tied to hunting, a large part of the proposal also seems to boil down to whether or not one believes that wildlife experts should have a hand in the population management of big cat species.
Full details related to this initiative can be found here. Scroll down to page 39.
After first confirmed sighting in 6 years, this rare cat is roaming Vermont
Spain set to give great apes ‘human’ rights
Proposed legislation would ban experimentation and research if they would harm the animals
, Madrid
Tuesday September 24 2024, 8.26pm BST, The Times
In 1975 the founder of a new field of biomedical ethics came up with 15 criteria by which someone’s “humanhood” could be judged.
Among the qualities defined by Dr Joseph F Fletcher, an ordained Episcopal priest in the US and a controversial professor of ethics who espoused the virtues of euthanasia, were some minimal intelligence, self-awareness, self-control, a sense of time and concern for others.
These, he said, distinguish us from our animal ancestors.
Yet today the Spanish government is citing Fletcher’s research as part of efforts to create a law to protect animals, arguing that the hominid family of primates, which includes gorillas, orangutans, bonobos and chimpanzees, is close to another family member — humans — in cognitive ability.
The objectives of the law, according to the ministry of social rights, which is drafting the legislation, are the prohibition of experimentation and research on great apes if it causes them harm.
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It will also establish the conditions of their ownership or custody as well as ban their use for commercial purposes, including in shows, and the improvement of efforts for their conservation.
The government has taken the first step by launching a public consultation on the law that would affect the animals. The reason for the law lies in their “genetic closeness” to humans and because “they share the 15 attributes that bioethicist Joseph Fletcher once established to define the human personality”, says the ministry’s public consultation document.
The government argues that in addition to the fact that Spanish law considers animals to be sentient beings, in 1997 an international confederation decided to classify great apes in the Hominidae family, alongside humans and our extinct ancestors.
Chimpanzees are classified as part of the Hominidae family alongside humans
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
“This decision, accepted by the entire scientific community, is of great importance as it puts these beings on the same level as our ancestors, homo erectus, homo habilis, australopithecus, etc,” says the document.
The ministry adds that great apes “have cognitive abilities such as learning, communication and complex reasoning that bring them close to those of human beings”.
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The creation of the legislation was mandated by the Animal Welfare Act, which was passed last year, where it was introduced as an additional provision during its passage through parliament.
The idea of a law on great apes is not new in Spain. In 2006 the organisation Proyecto Gran Simio promoted a non-legislative proposal but it did not prosper. “This law on great apes would be the first in the world and in this way Spain would recognise what science admits and supports, that non-human hominids are our evolutionary brothers and sisters and being within our own family, they deserve special recognition,” Pedro Pozas Terrados, head of of the project, said.
Two California dairy workers were infected with bird flu, latest human cases in US
By JONEL ALECCIAUpdated 3:05 PM PDT, October 3, 2024Share
Two dairy workers in California were infected with bird flu, the 15th and 16th human cases detected this year in an ongoing outbreak affecting the nation’s dairy cows, health officials said Thursday.
The latest cases were found in workers who had contact with infected cattle in California’s Central Valley, where more than 50 herds have been affected since August. The workers developed eye redness known as conjunctivitis and had mild symptoms.
California health officials said the workers were employed at different farms and there is no known link between the two cases, suggesting that they were infected through animal contact, not by people.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday confirmed the positive test results, the first for California. CDC officials said new cases of bird flu in people exposed to infected animals is “not unexpected.” The risk to the public remains low, they added.
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Across the U.S., more than 250 dairy herds have been infected in 14 states since the outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza was confirmed in March. Avian influenza has been spreading in wild and domestic birds in the U.S. for several years but recently was found in dairy cows.
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Before this year, one case of bird flu was detected in a person, a Colorado poultry worker who fell ill in 2022. Most cases this year have been detected in workers who had contact with cattle or poultry in Colorado, Michigan and Texas. A person in Missouri was also infected, but that person had no known contact with animals and the source of that illness has not been determined.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
LETTER: Vote ‘Yes’ on Proposition 127 to Protect Wild Cats
Posted on by Post Contributor
Let’s step forward into the modern era and vote ‘Yes’ to protect our Colorado wild cats from trophy hunting and trapping. With a ‘Yes’ vote on Proposition 127, Coloradans have an opportunity to express our current values and connect our minds with our hearts. A chance to end the ecologically unsound, unsporting and cruel practice of chasing down hundreds of mountain lions each year with packs of dogs, for nothing other than heads and hides.
This harassment and killing of our mountain lions is indefensible. A wealth of science shows it is not necessary. Science shows mountain lion numbers will not explode out of control. Deer and elk numbers will not go down.
Last season about 50% of mountain lions killed were females. Long after weaning from mother’s milk, kittens still need their mothers to survive. The great toll on females inevitably orphaned kittens last year, left alone and starving in the middle of winter.
The ecologically unsound, unnecessary assault on our Colorado wild cats doesn’t end there. Our bobcats are trapped, beaten to death or strangled without limit; furs then sold for profit outside the USA.
If trophy hunting and trapping of our Colorado wild cats serves no ecological purpose and is clearly inhumane and cruel, it must stop.
A ‘Yes’ vote on proposition 127 will reflect the hearts and educated minds of Coloradans.
Raptor Center sees increase in entanglement injuries with birds and soccer nets
By Ubah Ali
October 3, 2024 / 10:29 PM CDT / CBS Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minn. — We’re “owl” all in this together — that’s the message experts at the Raptor Center are pushing after five raptors got caught in soccer nets while on the hunt.
One red-tailed hawk and four great horned owls got themselves into a tight situation after getting caught in nets.
“Five in the month of September is a lot in one short period of time,” said Dr. Dana Franzen-Klein of the Raptor Center.
Franzen-Klein said entanglement admissions are higher than usual this year and a major problem for younger birds.
“This time of year, young great horned owls are separating from parents and learning how to hunt on their own,” Franzen-Klein said. “(They are) less experienced and so focused on hunting that they don’t see the soccer net at night.”
Experts say entanglement injuries can be the most difficult to treat even leading to death.
“It restricts blood flow to their wings can cause them to get really swollen and get muscle strains that are really painful, and they may fly away but they are uncomfortable and can’t fly well enough to survive,” Franzen-Klein said.
She believes the best way people can help our feathered friends is to remove the nets or tip down the net.
“That’s a real easy thing you can do so it’s flat against the ground so birds will not get tangled in it,” Franzen-Klein said.
She also recommends regularly checking soccer nets and any landscape netting around your home.
Of the five raptors admitted to the hospital, one did not survive, one was released, one is relearning to fly and two are still receiving care.
Click here to learn what to do if you come across an injured bird.
Exposing the Big Game 