Texas Parks and Wildlife Department granted one out of six requests submitted by Texans for Mountain Lions via a petition.

Sept. 20, 2022

Despite a recent setback, big cat advocates say mountain lions in Texas may be closer than ever to finally being granted minimal protections.

Over the summer, the advocacy coalition known as Texans for Mountain Lions received a letter from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department denying five out of the six requests the group submitted to the agency in the form of a petition, regarding mountain lion research and minimal protections for one of the state’s largest and most imperiled wild cats.

While denying the petition outright, TPWD conceded that it would create a stakeholders advisory group to explore the issue further, making the advocates hopeful that mountain lion protections in one form or another may be within reach in the coming years.

Representing Texans for Mountain Lions, wildlife biologist Romey Swanson says an Aug. 24 public hearing on the matter, showed TPWD commissioners that Texas citizens want a state that keeps a place open for mountain lions.

“We had a pretty good showing,” Swanson says. “I believe there's probably about 20 to 25 different comments during that public hearing — so pretty good showing on all sides of the issue. And I think that that gave a pretty good signal that this is an issue on the public's minds, including many of our stakeholders.”

REQUESTS DENIED

Currently Texas is the only state in the U.S. that does not have some form of protection for mountain lions, also known as pumas and cougars.

The advocates’ requests that were flat out denied mostly involved rules that would have helped researchers gain a better picture of the status of mountain lions in the state, such as mandatory reporting to the department whenever a mountain lion is killed and establishing a means to identify the size, status and distribution of mountain lions in Texas.

Currently Texas is the only state in the U.S. that does not have some form of protection for mountain lions, also known as pumas and cougars.

Only two of the requests would have had any protective effect on mountain lions: the establishment of a 36-hour trap check to make sure that trapped mountain lions do not suffer for long once trapped; and the banning of so-called canned hunts in which mountain lions are restricted, either through confinement or injury, to make it easier for trophy hunters to kill the cats.

None of these measures requested by the mountain lion advocates would have prohibited killing the cats any time of year or would have even elevated mountain lions from nongame to game species.

STAKEHOLDERS GROUP

The stakeholders advisory group that’s expected to be formed in the coming year would likely consist mostly of large property owners, ranchers, farmers, hunting operation managers and wildlife managers – those who are considered to have the most at stake. They would be asked to weigh in before any rules are implemented that would regulate how and when mountain lions are killed. 

Most land in Texas is privately owned, so anywhere that mountain lions live is likely on private property. Huge, legacy ranches and farming operations factor largely in the land that the remaining wild cats roam.

The stakeholders advisory group that’s expected to be formed in the coming year would likely consist mostly of large property owners, ranchers, farmers, hunting operation managers and wildlife managers.

“You don't typically see mountain lions in the middle of Downtown Dallas, or anywhere in the urban areas, or for that matter, any place other than South and West Texas. West Texas [is] especially where the large land holdings are primarily,” says Monica Morrison of Texas Native Cats, a Dallas-based advocacy organization for the five large cats native to the state.

Swanson says the public hearing revealed that generally, most Texans want to keep mountain lions as a part of the state’s wild identity. What they differ on, though, is how that will come about. 

“We want to make sure that we hear the points of different stakeholder groups – for instance, our producers, our farmers and ranchers, our wildlife managers – so that we continue to have judicious use of landowner tools to address wildlife conflict issues,” he says. “But by and large throughout and thematically, I believe everybody that spoke up said, Look, I don't want to wake up one day and mountain lions are not out there. So generally everyone is in support of a sustainable future that has mountain lions as a natural, native part of the Texas landscape.”

Cory Chandler, deputy communications director with TPWD, says the agency’s commission is listening to the interests of constituent groups on this issue and heard public testimony during its August meeting. 

“If there is going to be change in the management of mountain lions in Texas, there will need to be more research to base decisions on sufficient science, and proactive, voluntary engagement by landowners will be critical,” Chandler said. “As noted in our petition response, staff is assembling a working group comprised of concerned landowners and land managers, scientists and subject matter experts, representatives from concerned constituencies and TPWD staff to help further inform commissioners on research, conservation and management-related needs and alternatives for this species. TPWD is finalizing the members of the working group.”

PUMAS IN PERIL

Texas mountain lions were the stars of Ben Masters' 2022 documentary Deep in the Heart. Courtesy of Deep in the Heart.Texas mountain lions were the stars of Ben Masters' 2022 documentary Deep in the Heart. Courtesy of Deep in the Heart.

Swanson says that although more research is indeed needed to gain a clearer picture of how many mountain lions remain in West and South Texas and what condition they’re in, the department's own research shows clearly that something has to be done or the cats will cease to exist.

“We believe that there's a mischaracterization that has occurred in the public discourse, whereby some elements suggest there's not a lot of data out there on mountain lions, and therefore, there's not a lot of information to use to inform a management management policy,” he says. “However, one thing that we've enjoyed over the last 30 years through parks and wildlife’s efforts and others, is a small but mounting — or growing amounts of scientifically-reviewed, peer-reviewed literature that illustrates reasons for concern — and in particular reasons for concerns about the South Texas population,” said Swanson. “So what I would suggest is that there is adequate data to start making management decisions, [and] that we need to supplement that information and data through ongoing and continual research.”

According to Texans for Mountain Lions, during a study of 16 monitored cats in the protected landscape of Big Bend Ranch State Park, one was shot and all of the remaining 15 were killed in leghold traps when they traveled onto private lands. Another study in the Davis Mountains recorded a nearly 50 percent annual mortality, almost entirely due to trapping. 

According to Texans for Mountain Lions, during a study of 16 monitored cats in the protected landscape of Big Bend Ranch State Park, one was shot and all of the remaining 15 were killed in leghold traps when they traveled onto private lands.

Swanson says the urgency on the mountain lions that remain in South Texas is due to the population being cut off from other mountain lion populations, which has led to inbreeding and other challenges to their ability to repopulate. West Texas populations are in contact with populations in Mexico and New Mexico, where the cats are protected, and therefore less imperiled.

Able to reach eight feet from tail to nose but usually spotted at only about half that length, mountain lions once roamed every part of the U.S. and all throughout Texas, from the woodlands and swamps of East Texas to the dry land of West and South Texas, the Panhandle and everywhere in between. From the late 19th Century to the early 20th Century, hunters killed the cats with wild abandon until mountain lions could only be found in scattered pockets of populations where the cats could evade their killers.

Every state in the nation has placed various forms of protections on mountain lions to sustain their populations so that future generations may experience the cats — every state but Texas. Texas still classifies the cats as a nongame species, on par with rabbits and squirrels and allows hunting at any time of year without limits.

Texas big cat advocates say that the status of the mountain lion in the state has led to its decline and that the voluntary conservation measures that TPWD has pinned its hopes on to manage the species have proved to be insufficient.

“It was classified as a nongame species about 50 years ago by the state legislature, and that classification has not changed in all the intervening years. So that means that the cat can be hunted. It can be trapped year round with no limits. The only thing that is required is either a valid hunting license or a valid trapping license. Other than that, that's the limit of it. So there's no limit on what can be done, how many can be killed. The traps do not have to be checked currently, so any animal, whether it's a mountain lion or anything else that gets caught in one of these traps, very often just stays in that trap until it dies, either from exposure or dehydration,” Morrison adds.

SLOW PROGRESS

For this reason, mountain lion advocates welcome any move TPWD makes toward reclassification of the cat as a game species. Whether such a change comes as a proposal of the soon-to-be-formed advisory group remains to be seen.

“In Texas, smartly, we oftentimes want to use voluntary tools. We don't necessarily like the strong arm with regulatory approaches. But that approach over the last 30 years has not allowed us to resolve this issue or put it to bed,” Swanson says.

Both Morrsion and Swanson agree that the matter is now in the hands of the advisory group, and whatever proposals it works out, if any, will likely be what TPWD proposes to the Texas legislature for working into law – a process Morrison says could take up to a decade. 

“We really don't want to lose another species. We will likely never see another jaguarundi or jaguar in the state. And our ocelot is already an endangered species. So, we just can't afford to lose our diversity of species.”

They see the current interest that the department has taken in the issues as the result of a growing public awareness of the status of mountain lions in Texas. Citizens keeping up the pressure on the department’s commissioners and their state representatives will be what pushes the issue to an eventual resolution.

“I think a key component here is how do we get people knowledgeable about this effort? How do we get this out in front of the public so people know about it? I think that is of paramount importance,” Morrison says. “We really don't want to lose another species. We will likely never see another jaguarundi or jaguar in the state. And our ocelot is already an endangered species. So, we just can't afford to lose our diversity of species.”

HOW TO TAKE ACTION

Express your support for mountain lion protection via these action pages:

Texans for Mountain Lions Speak Your Mind Page
Texas Native Cats Get Involved Page

 

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