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Mountain lions in state's sights
By Jeremy P. Meyer
Denver Post Staff Writer
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4870297
Colorado wildlife commissioners are seeking ways to cut the risk of mountain-lion attacks on the Front Range, including asking county officials to allow big- game hunting on open-space lands.
Commissioners are concerned open-space properties have become refuges for mountain lions they say are increasingly viewing humans as prey.
"When they really understand the lion population and the prey base up there, it's a statistical slam dunk that something bad is about to happen," Wildlife Commissioner Rick Enstrom said.
"It's not going to be on my neck," Enstrom said.
State officials say 3,000 to 8,000 mountain lions roam Colorado.
Among the management solutions that commissioners may ask counties to consider are limited hunting of mountain lions or their prey and permitting hunting dogs to chase away the big cats, Enstrom said.
Wildlife officials will meet with county officials today to explain the state's concern and outline a proposed research project that will try to determine the best ways to manage the cats.
Next month, wildlife commissioners will meet with Front Range lawmakers to explain their concerns, Enstrom said.
Colorado has a hunting season for mountain lions from November to March, permitting the harvesting of about 600 cats a year.
Two people in Colorado have died from mountain-lion attacks over the past 15 years - an 18-year-old man jogging in Idaho Springs in 1991 and a 10-year-old boy hiking with his family in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1997, according to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
A 3-year-old boy who disappeared in 1999 in the Comanche Peak Wilderness area and whose body was found in 2003 also is suspected to have been killed by a mountain lion.
Last Easter, a boy survived an attack west of Boulder while he was walking with his father, which raised public awareness, said Tyler Baskfield, Division of Wildlife spokesman.
Wendy Keefover-Ring of Boulder-based Sinapu, a wildlife organization, said the fears of mountain-lion attacks are overblown.
"Chances of getting attacked by a mountain lion are about the same as getting struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day," she said.
Keefover-Ring said she believes hunting mountain lions could increase the number of human attacks when young cats unfamiliar with how to behave around people take over the territory of a hunted cat.
Ron Stewart, Boulder County director of parks and open space, said only three incidents have occurred with humans and mountain lions in the past few years.
"Our land basically hasn't been allowed for hunting in the past, except for management reasons," Stewart said. "The state would have to make a pretty compelling argument for any consideration to alter that."
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer may be reached at 303-954-1367 or [email protected].
