LION TRACKS Mountain Lion Foundation Newsletter Winter 2021
Thank you. Obrigado. Merci. Gracias. Welcome, 2021! Heading into a new year, we're naturally reflective about the memories we'll keep from the year past and the priorities we'll carry into the new one. While so much has been said about the many difficulties of 2020, the year also brought us reasons to celebrate and be grateful. (Read these reflections from our own Fred Hull and from our CEO Debra Chase in their columns below.) As the Mountain Lion Foundation, we must also express our gratitude for America's rugged, adaptable, charismatic lion -- the mountain lion. To our many volunteers and activists across America, we offer our deepest gratitude, especially to those in Klickitat County Washington. Without all of you and the precious time you give to us, we would not be as effective in doing all of the work we do to Save Americas Lion.
In Gratitude to Mountain Lions
Chris Tromborg PhD, MLF Board Member Sometimes, as we meander through life, we fail to acknowledge the contributions of others to our successes. That is, we forget to say thank you, especially to nonhumans. For my part, I would like to correct this oversight by acknowledging the importance of cats – especially mountain lions – in providing me with an important reason for living a useful life. Wild felines were in trouble. In 1969, one authority estimated that India’s wild tiger population had fallen below 1,000. At the same time, the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida appeared on the covers of fashion magazines wearing a tiger skin coat made from the skins of over 100 tigers. This fashion trend was accelerating, threatening the animals’ continued existence. The news guided my academic choices and inspired me to be increasingly involved in feline conservation. In the early 1970s, California conservationists united to propose a ban on legal mountain lion hunting. They formed The Coalition to Save the California Mountain Lion (which ultimately became the Mountain Lion Foundation) hoping to gather a scientifically determined lion population estimate and allow for behavioral research by means other than those using the scope of a rifle. I became deeply involved in the campaign to pass Assembly Bill 660, the successful passing of which began a moratorium on cougar hunting that lasted for years. I was elated. That same year, on a hiking trip to Mount Shasta, I met my first cougar. Unfortunately, this was a mounted mountain lion exhibited at a natural history museum operated by the National Park Service. Seeing this taxidermic animal, I was enthralled by its beauty and simultaneously horrified that it had died for a seemingly senseless reason. I promised myself that I would do all I could to prevent similar things from happening to other animals. As I began my undergraduate studies in biology, two more events converged to influence the trajectory of my life. First, I began to experience vision failure, thus eliminating any prospect of becoming an ethologist in the tradition of George Schaller, who had just published his major treatise, The Serengeti Lion. Second, I was adopted by a cougar-colored abandoned domestic cat who would provide me with an important personal link to all cats, domestic and wild, throughout the remainder of my undergraduate career. Butch, the cat, would be with me during the decade that I attempted to negotiate the vagaries of obtaining a college education. She would demonstrate conclusively to me that the domestic cat is capable of complex cognition and of forming powerful friendships, probably even loving relationships. Based on the notion of common ancestry, and because of biological similarities, I assumed that wild felids, including cougars, were as emotionally complex as Butch. I began to believe that wild cats deserved the same degree of respect as we granted to domestic cats.
Read the rest of Dr. Tromborg's column on our website. You'll find it here. You don't want to miss the part about the mysterious appearance - and disappearance - of a certain strange totem that accompanied him during his graduate school career. Dr. Tromborg is professor of Psychobiology and Animal Behavior at Sacramento City College and lecturer in Psycho-Physics and Animal Cognition at the University of California, Davis.
2020's Remembrances of Gratitude Heading into 2021, we pause with deep gratitude for the legacies of several wildlife champions who passed away in 2020.
Rabbi Joseph Hurwitz, a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Mountain Lion Foundation, died on September 4, 2020. Friends and colleagues remember his knack for bringing the perfect dollop of mirth to every situation. He gave unremittingly to the causes he held dear, and lions led the list. In a fitting footnote to Rabbi’s life, hours before his passing, he joyfully learned that the California legislature had approved a moratorium on certain chemical rat poisons, in part because of secondary lion deaths. We could not ask for a better tribute.
Dr. Georgina Mace, one of the world’s most prominent conservation biologists, passed away on September 19, 2020, in Oxford, England. Dr. Mace developed the methodology used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to determine species’ conservation status. Her system of evaluating evolutionary history, rate of population growth or loss, and impact from climate change, proved remarkably reliable. Conservationists have used her work to ascertain the status of many endangered species of animals, plants, and fungi.
Barry Lopez, the beloved author and National Book Award recipient, died on December 25, 2020. He had lent his esteemed name to our Honorary Board since the Foundation’s inception in 1986. We will remember his kindness and generosity, often expressing a deeply felt empathy for wildlife. “We refer to them as wild,” he said of mountain lions and other native species, “but many are not truly wild, because they are not free to live their lives as they choose. They are besieged by human cruelty and indifference, and they must cope every day with the destruction of their homelands.”
Policy Round-Up: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Washington Approves Hound Training Proposal: After several months of strong opposition from citizens and the Mountain Lion Foundation and other conservation organizations, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 4-3 to approve the nonlethal hound pursuit training program. Answering to legislation that mandated a training program for hound teams that respond to rare public safety threats involving bears, bobcats, or cougars, the rule looked more like a gift to houndsmen who want to chase cougars. The program will allow up to 50 hounding trainees to practice chasing cougars with their dogs, allowing them to bring along family members as spectators. While two of the three "No" votes came from science-based conservationists recently appointed to the Commission, this disappointing outcome reflects the difficulty of getting the nation's fish and wildlife officials to consider conservation science and public safety over recreational interests. Read the full story on our website. Temecula Cats Win: MLF and other conservation groups approved a legal agreement in late October that will protect a critical wildlife corridor for local mountain lions and other wildlife. The settlement also will fund restoration efforts and ensure implementation of a regional conservation plan. The agreement comes after a judge issued a ruling this spring against the proposed 270-acre Altair development in Western Riverside County in California. The agreement permanently protects the 55-acre “South Parcel� — a key part of one of the only passages left for endangered Santa Ana mountain lions to move between coastal and inland mountains. This lion population suffers from extremely low levels of genetic diversity due to limited wildlife connectivity.
Colorado's Bad Call: Last month, despite strong public opposition, urging from MLF, and even outspoken criticism from a commission member, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to make legal, for the first time, electronic calls to lure lions for the kill. The rule will apply to a new special management area including most of the Roaring Fork Valley, parts of the Eagle Valley, and in parts of southwest Colorado near the Utah border. California Coexistence: Governor Newsom unveiled a state budget plan in early January that earmarks $7 million in new funding to enhance human/wildlife conflict response across the state. This comes after months of work, during which we were proud to partner with the Department of Fish & Wildlife to encourage coexistence and reduce lethal outcomes for mountain lions. Calling Out the Sheriff: With 21 cougars dead in a little over a year's time, Washington State officials have failed to reign in Klickitat County's Sheriff Songer and the volunteer posse he's deputized to be his long arm of the law. A number of those posse members deploy their own hounds to chase and kill cougars that pose no public safety threat. Washington's law clearly bans hounding cougars except when needed to address an actual threat. Some 200 community members signed up for our virtual presentation by independent wildlife field biologist Rosemary Schiano, who is also an expert in nonlethal wildlife conflict management. The webinar, which drew members of the media and representatives from WDFW, sent a clear message to the sheriff: the war on the county's cougars is unsustainable and it's time for the state to intervene.
Help us continue to be a voice for America's Lion. Watch for Action Alert emails when we need you to speak out for lions in your state. And please encourage your friends and family to sign up for our emails as well. It will take ALL of our voices to save the mountain lions.
On Location Love in the Wilderness: What could be more fitting for a February newsletter? We call them the mingling mountain lions, this mating pair was captured by our trail cams in the Utah mountains last November. There could be kittens by now. Will they wander past our camera again?
Humbled and Hopeful Fred Hull, House Counsel The past year has left us hopeful for our lions and humbled by the support that the Mountain Lion Foundation has received. In California, the past year has found precarious mountain lion populations in Coastal and Southern California gaining protection while they are considered as a candidate under the Endangered Species Act. The Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has extended a “three steps” policy throughout the state – a policy that protects lions from an immediate death sentence by requiring pet or livestock owners to take action to protect their animals before they can apply for a permit to kill a lion. CDFW asked MLF to assist in the design and printing of a brochure now being distributed statewide in cases of conflict with lions. We have successfully ended a development in Altair that would have decimated critical lion habitat and we helped to convince California to halt the use of third generation rodenticides. In just the last year, the Mountain Lion Foundation has expanded our on-the-ground presence across America in states that have birthing lions, and most heavily right now in Oregon, Washington, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. Increased staff and volunteers are monitoring and responding to issues ranging from depredations, hunting quotas, hound hunting rule changes by state agencies, to a “Constitutional Sheriff” cougar-killing posse and, of course, stopping the horrible hunting contests. We were even able to give a grant to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for a capture net, which will help officers safely capture lions and bears for later release. Even though we are locked down, we have been able to protect our lions by strongly advocating remotely, supporting good policy and producing educational videos and online seminars (which you can see on our website.) We are hopeful that we can continue to achieve our goals, such as pressuring states to reduce or end mountain lion hunting and ending wildlife trapping where lions, people and pets are often victims. We’re also working to educate the public on the many ways to coexist with lions and other carnivores, and to fight the dreaded Federal Wildlife Service Agency known as USDA APHIS for their lethal approach to “managing” wildlife for states, cities, counties, and private citizens. Our staff is tracking all state agencies and monitoring changes to hunt quotas, rule changes, as well as road construction and development in critical lion habitat.
How do we do all of this? With your generous support. Over the last year, you have protected our lions by volunteering your time, money, and professional services. We appreciate the trust you place in us, we’re humbled by your dedication and determination to Save America’s Lion. To help, share our website - mountainlion.org/donate- or call us at 916-442-2666.
News Round-Up Train your Brain with Wild Cat Trivia
Awaiting our New Arrival Our website is undergoing a much-anticipated makeover and we hope you'll watch for the arrival of our new and improved site.
1. Which of the following wild cats is known for its ability to descend from a tree head-first? A. Lynx B. Leopard C. Jaguar D. Mountain lion. 2. The smallest wild cat on earth weighs only 3 1/2 pounds and lives in India. What is it called? A. Indian Pygmy Cat B. Miniature Jungle Cat C. Rusty Spotted Cat D. The Little Mouser. Writer and naturalist Caryl Pearson has designed a series of cat trivia questions, from beginner to challenging. Wander over to the Kid's Corner on our website for more questions. Answers: 1(B); 2(C)
Calendars are Going Fast!
There will be updated interactive maps, state-by-state summaries of mountain lion laws and protections, and popular educational features like our Kid's Corner. Stay tuned!
The beautiful, full-color Mountain Lion Foundation wall calendar provides year-round reminders of the beauty and dignity of America's Lion. You can claim your copy of the 2021 calendar for any donation of $35 or more. Hurry while supplies last. Order here.
CEO Column: Two Simple Words Debra Chase, CEO Two words bespoke sensitive feelings in return of something given and of something gained. These two words, so commonplace that often times they are carelessly thrown about from one’s lips as if they were mere spittle, withering on the breath as fleeting and elusive as our dreams. And then, at other times, they are spoken so deeply and with such strong emotion that the recipient can feel the arrow of their meaning swell in one’s chest as if it were shot from a quiver of infallible wisdom and grace. These two simple words, spoken not enough - thank you. Their implication, as Milton reminds us, “bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” How
powerful, then, these two simple words are for the recipient, for all gifts given are so generous that they render one speechless. An aphonic reaction that stuns, the gifts are so grand. I have learned that most of the time the realty of our lives doesn’t catch up with what is in our mind. We churn and yearn and the monkey mind wishes for something better over there and something greener over here. I think of this often while testifying in front of a game commission or attending a meeting with a state senator. I find myself wishing for one of those refined moments when real life catches up with what’s in my mind. Sometimes it happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. The one thing that almost always catches up is the truth that when one door closes, another one opens. That’s where you come in. To us, it matters not if your gift is from a meager pocket or a chest of treasure, from an hour of precious time out of an over busy day or a lifetime of talent. All of your gifts allow every one of us to experience awe in the everyday, and that does indeed “change forever how we experience life and our world.” When a kitten is born or plucked from a tree and returned to her mother, when a lion is saved from a forest fire then returned home, when a rancher declares they will hunt and kill our lions no more, when a biologist has a eureka moment, when law enforcement protects a wandering lion, when a senator declares the end of poisons in our stores, and when the contests of hunting are ceased: there are two simple words we have to convey the depth and breadth of the gratitude felt every time we think of you and what your gifts can do to help save our lions. Thank You.
Join Us for Upcoming Events Head to our website's events page any time and browse the upcoming lectures, seminars, and presentations in our online series – Living With Lions. Coming this month: The Animal Guide to Finding Love and Raising Kids with Dr. Jennifer Verdolin – February 11, 2021 from 1:00 - 2:30 PM Pacific Time, including limited live Q&A afterwards. We humans struggle with countless challenges in our quest for friendship, love, and happy family life. And here's where other species can help. Viewing animal behavior through a contextual prism allows us to gain a new perspective on what's really happening in our relationships. It turns out that other animals have much to teach us about love, relationships, and this thing called family. Widely regarded animal behavior scientist, author, and science communicator, Jennifer has been a featured guest on BBC Earth Podcast, National Public Radio, and many others. An engaging speaker who delights her audiences worldwide, Dr. Verdolin also writes for Psychology Today and teaches in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona.
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