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ADLA
runs newspaper ads throughout the state to alert public to
the problems with Arizona Game & Fish's proposed mountain
lion hunt guidelines
See
a copy of the ad here (Adobe
Acrobat required)
April 14,
2004
The
Animal Defense League of Arizona is asking the public to get
involved and let the Arizona Game & Fish Commission know
that Arizonans want meaningful protection for mountain lion
kittens and their mothers.
Arizona is one of only two states that currently allow sport
hunters to kill lion kittens. For the first time, the Arizona
Game & Fish Department has recommended that “spotted
kittens and females accompanied by spotted kittens” be
excluded from the definition of lions that may be hunted.
ADLA contends that this change is a step in the right direction,
but will not provide meaningful protection for kittens because
they are dependant on their mothers after they lose their
spots, and because females with dependant young leave them
if they are looking for food or being apprehended by hunters.
ADLA asked the department to set a hunting season from November
to March and limit the number of females that may be killed.
The department rejected these and other recommendations.
Each year Arizona hunters kill over 300 lions in Arizona --
twice as many as they killed 30 years ago. In the last three
years, the department and commission have allowed hunters
to kill more lions than the target in Arizona’s Wildlife
Strategic Plan (known as Wildlife 2006). As a keystone species,
mountain lions are critical for balanced ecosystems in Arizona.
The public
may comment on the proposed hunt guidelines by April 17, 2004.
See related alert here. For
more information about mountain lions in Arizona, check out
ADLA's web page at http://lions.adlaz.org.
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