Just because WDFW cant allow this to happen… They increase the Cougar kill Quota…. These Dumbasses need to be stopped NOW!!
What the hell is wrong with WDFW? because they cant be allowed to Kill Wolves ….. They up Quota to kill more Cougars….. Typical Human attitude….. kill something else!!
Several organizations have filed a petition against WDFW, asking the state to reverse its recent decision to increase the quota for cougar hunting due to the presence of wolves.
One of those leading the challenge is Gary Koehler, a former cougar specialist with WDFW.
In 2000, Koehler and his team wanted to know how cougars and humans successfully live beside one another. He described the time as one filled with “cougar paranoia”. Though they knew cougars were widespread in the hills near Cle Elum, few ever saw the elusive predator.
“Cougars are very territorial,” Koehler said.
KING 5 was there soon after the research started. Biologists tagged and collared cougars with GPS, helped by students at a middle school nearby in a unique program called Cougars and Teaching (CAT).
“It was amazing. She was right there in front of us. We were able to touch her,” Lizz Stewart said.
Stewart was in 8th grade at Walter Strom Middle School back then. Her teacher, Trish Griswold, chose students with good grades who expressed interest in field work.
A decade of her classes participated, studying cougars up close.
“Layers and layers of muscles that are so powerful, you’re amazed,” Griswold described.
Biologists named the cougars after the students.
“And Jane occupied an area from this area to this drainage over here,” Koehler explained, pointing to Lookout Mountain near the Teanaway River.
They found that cougars cover a lot of land. One male protects 150 miles, and they’ll fight any new adult males that try to move in.
It’s internal population control – cougars regulating their own numbers. But the researchers found something odd happens when a lot of adult males die off at the same time. Younger, more immature male cougars move in. Territory changes, along with behavior, increasing conflict with animals and humans.
“There’s a vacancy there. There is a hole that needs to be occupied,” Koeher said. “You’ve got basically regime change in the cat world.”
It’s why Koehler’s research set the state’s hunting policy. Hunters could only kill 12-16% of cougars each season. Any more than that, the research showed, would throw off the balance of pack politics.
But that was all before a new predator moved into Sam Kayer’s ranch land. So far, he’s lived beside cougars without losing any cattle.
“No,” Kayser said. “They’re around here. We see them and hear them.”