Date of Award:

5-2004

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Wildland Resources

Department name when degree awarded

Forest, Range, and Wildlife Sciences

Committee Chair(s)

Michael L. Wolfe

Committee

Michael L. Wolfe

Committee

Doug Ramsey

Committee

Tom DeLiberto

Abstract

Presently, eleven western states and two Canadian provinces utilize sport hunting as the primary mechanism for managing cougar (Puma concolor) populations. However, the impacts of sustained harvest on population dynamics and demographic structure arc not well understood. Additionally, the lack of cost-effective enumeration techniques and strongly conflicting societal values complicate effective management of this species. Given these concerns, the primary goals of this study were (I) to determine the effects of sustained harvest on cougar populations, and (2) estimate the level and extent of cougar harvest statewide.

I monitored cougar populations on Monroe Mountain in south-central Utah, and in the Oquirrh Mountains of north-central Utah from 1999 to 2003. Over this interval the Monroe population was subjected to heavy annual removals and was characterized demographically by a younger age structure. low survival and fecundity, and declining density. In contrast , the Oquirrh Mountain population was partially protected and exhibited an older age distribution, relatively high survival and fecundity, and static density.

To examine the statewide distribution of sport hunting, I mapped the locations of all cougars legally harvested from I 996-200 I, and calculated harvest rates by watershed (# cougars killed / yr / 00 km2) . Population trends derived on the study sites under known harvest regimes were used as benchmarks and compared with rates calculated for occupied cougar habitat across the state. This provided an index of where cougar populations were stable or declining as a result of hunting pressure.

Results from this research suggest heavy, sustained harvest can have significant impacts on cougar population dynamics and demographics. Patterns of recruitment resemble a source-sink population structure due in part to spatially variable management strategies. Moreover, these results indicate during the later I 990s, most of the statewide population was exploited at levels equal to or surpass ing those measured on Monroe Mountain. Because cougar density and habitat characteristics vary across management units, the temporal scale of population recovery will most likely depend on the interaction of harvest regime, productivity of unexploited populations, and landscape connectivity.

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