In the News - March 2008
Mountain lions menace declining in Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK - When humans try to manipulate Mother Nature, the reality is she
will make strange neighbors of us all, including the mountain lion.
Big, powerful and agile, mountain lions range from 5 feet to almost 9 feet
long and can weigh anywhere from 80 pounds to upwards of 200 pounds - the range
of weights that includes a third-grade boy to a fully-grown man.
"A few stray free-ranging mountain lions may exist in Arkansas, but so far
there has been little concrete evidence of a population of wild cats breeding
here," said Dr. Becky McPeake, wildlife specialist with the University of
Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
According to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC), the mountain lion or
cougar, lives in a variety of habitats but usually avoids humans. They seek
shelter in rough, rocky, wooded uplands, large tracts of bottomland forest and
swamps and remote mountainous regions. Because Arkansas has all of these
features, mountain lions potentially could be found between all four borders of
the state.
"If you happen to be outside on a hike and see a mountain lion in our state,
it’s most likely a pet someone could no longer handle," McPeake said.
"Biologists speculate these big cats were released by exotic pet owners who
thought they could properly care for a cat as large as this, but couldn’t."
In fact, it is illegal to bring mountain lions into Arkansas. The AGFC states
that it regulates the possession of mountain lions and that any person owning a
mountain lion must have an AGFC Wildlife Breeder/Dealer permit or an AGFC
Mountain Lion Permit. However, new permits will not be issued except for bona
fide conservation or scientific purposes.
While cute and helpless as kittens, mountain lions will weigh about 45 pounds
- about the size of a medium-sized dog - by the time they are eight months old.
This weight gain is due to the successful night hunts they go on with their
mothers beginning when they are two or three months old. Because they are not
domestic animals, mountain lions will always seek prey, regardless of whether
they have a steady food source. This fact as well as their long, sharp claws
makes mountain lions more suitable for wide open spaces than fenced backyards.
"For the safety and well-being of both mountain lions and your neighbors,
it’s best to let them live in the wild rather than raising them as a pet in a
neighborhood where children and pets can be harmed," McPeake said.
For more information about wildlife, visit extension's Web site,
www.uaex.edu, or contact your county extension agent. The Cooperative Extension Service is
part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
March 14, 2008
By Kelli Reep
For the Cooperative Extension Service
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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