land for hunting are more con-
cerned with losses to coyotes
than to lions. If having a lion
on their land could decrease
feral hogs, coyotes and bobcats,
they are all for lions, since keep-
ing coyote and hog numbers in
check is labor-intensive and
financially taxing.
“What about the deer?” I
am often asked. Large areas in
western Texas are leased for
hunting, and owners fear that
lions will kill all the deer. The
reality is that mountain lions
and deer coexisted side by side
for thousand of years before
humans joined the landscape.
Predators do not eliminate
their source of food. They will
die off if they do.
A resident adult lion kills its
prey, eats parts of it, covers it
for future meals and returns to
the kill over the course of sever-
al days. The resident lion, after
making one kill, is taken out of
the hunting cycle, sometimes
for as long as 10 days. They will
hunt hogs, javelinas, aoudads
and porcupines as well as deer.
If the territory is lacking a resi-
dent lion, any passing lion or
lions may stay around for a few
days, killing multiple times
since they cannot protect a hid-
den kill and are not familiar
with the habitat and do not feel
safe.
A resident mountain lion
will benefit landowners by
improving the quality of the
deer. Some landowners are
worried that a mountain lion
HOW MANY MOUNTAIN LIONS
SHOULD I EXPECT ON MY LAND?
Male mountain lions occupy an area of 25,000-
51,000 acres, and females occupy an area of
13,000-19,000 acres. Males and females overlap in
their territories, and sometimes related females
(mother, daughters and sisters) will share portions
of their territory.
What does this mean?
In a NON-HARVESTED population:
will kill their prized buck, cost-
ing them money. It is more like-
ly, though, that a mountain lion
will go after the weaker, not-so-
healthy animal, taking it out of
the gene pool.
Many studies showed this
exact thing: that in the presence
of a resident lion, deer are larg-
er, healthier and are prized
more. There are, of course, no
certainties that a lion will not
take down a large male, espe-
cially after the rut, when the
males are exhausted and leave
the sanctuary of the other ani-
mals.
But it does not often hap-
pen; it is more likely that a resi-
dent lion will know the move-
ment of the herd, will follow
the larger numbers, know
where other species such as
hogs and javelina travel and
will stalk and feed on a variety
of other species before he or
she will choose to take down a
large, healthy deer such as a
prized buck. Taking down such
an animal is a risk for the lion,
and lions tend to avoid such
risks.
If You Own You May Have: 10,000 acres One mountain lion visiting your land on occasion
as part of its territory. The rest of the time, the
mountain lion will spend patrolling and hunting in
adjacent lands. read
uS
onLIne!
25,000 acres One-two mountain lions partially residing on
your land and spending the rest of their time in
neighboring lands. cenizojournal.com
50,000 acres Two-four mountain lions
100,000 acres
In addition to traditional use
of land, some landowners have
seen an increase in their
income beyond the hunting
season when they open their
ranch to wildlife viewing. The
concern over losing a prized
buck to predation is diminished
when people are willing to pay
money for a chance to view
and photograph wildlife,
including a mountain lion.
Balanced Ecology, in addi-
tion to studying the impact of
mountain lions on other species
such as feral hogs, coyotes, bob-
cats and, in some areas, wild
burros, is also working on iden-
tifying “source,” “sink” and
“stable” areas for mountain
lions.
“Source areas” are those
areas that will allow lions to live
and reproduce without distur-
bance, while “sink areas” are
those where the tolerance to
lions is minimal. “Stable areas”
would be those areas separat-
ing source and sink areas,
where mountain lion numbers
are kept stable. These areas are
also used as dispersal routes for
young lions.
This source-sink-stable ap -
proach is successful in allowing
a healthy, viable population of
mountain lions to exist, while
recognizing that there are some
landowners who must kill lions
to protect their livelihood.
Mountain lions are a native
species of Texas, and with so
little public land, it is up to
landowners to be the best stew-
ards they can be of Texas
wildlife, Texas natural habitat
and other resources for the sake
of future generations. With this
commitment and with the
recognition that people are an
integral part of the ecosystem,
a balanced coexistence be -
tween humans and nature can
prevail.
Three-eight mountain lions
TO DECREASE LOSSES TO PREDATION:
• Don’t open a predator restaurant; bury
or compost dead livestock to make them unavail-
able to lions or other predators. Predators will
revisit areas more often if they find food.
• Try to calve in areas you can monitor.
Human activity around calving operations can
discourage predation.
• Consider livestock-guarding dogs.
Pyrenees and other breeds have proven track
records to reduce predation.
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2010
11