The Best and Worst States for Western Cougars - Part I
I previously wrote about a January 2023 Panthera study which revealed the best potential places for cougars in the Eastern United States. In terms of habitat, the top-ranking states that could host cougar populations are probably West Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and the northern half of the three Upper Midwest states (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) as nearly all of the land there meets the qualifications for good, well-connected cougar habitat. Smaller areas of potential cougar habitat were also found within several other Eastern states.
However, habitat suitability is just one factor. In the West, where cougar populations currently exist, some states are definitely better than others for the big cats - not just in terms of habitat, prey, and land connectivity, but also public policy.
That's the subject of this video, hosted by Brent Lyles, excecutive director of the Mountain Lion Foundation, and Gowan Batist, a California sheep rancher who coordinates and fosters cougar coexistence efforts. The video was originally aired on April 19 as part of the organization's Living With Lions webinar series.
What makes an area a good place for cougars?
1. Shelter - Cougars are ambush predators and cannot successfully hunt if there is too little natural cover. Trees, shrubs, large rocks, and rugged terrain are good for shelter, den sites or stalking prey.
2. Food and water - Deer are a cougar's main source of prey. Experienced hunters will also pursue the much larger elk. In certain areas of their range, animals like wild hogs, jackrabbits, porcupines, or bighorn sheep are major food sources for cougars.
3. Connectivity - Cougars have large home ranges and require large areas of uninterrupted terrain. In absence of wildlife overpasses or underpasses, major highways and freeways are potentially deadly to cougars attempting to cross these roads, and isolate or fragment cougar populations.
4. Potential mates - Establishing a population requires the presence of resident male and female cougars in the area. A dispersing male cougar seeks a territory unclaimed by other males that has a female cougar - a potential mate - nearby. Male cougars are more likely to travel long distances east. Females may either settle in a nearby territory adjacent to where they were raised or disperse further out.
5. Safety - The biggest threat to cougar survival is people. Positives in this category include laws offering protection from needless or ruthless killing of cougars, conservation/coexistence programs, wildlife crossings over major roads, and an informed public.
Potential Cougar Habitat By State
A cougar habitat quality ArcGIS model mapped by Kurt Menke analyzed prey availability, ruggedness of terrain, and low human development impact. The model categorized land into five thresholds of cougar habitat value - optimal, good, average, marginal, and non-habitat.
The actual population densities of mountain lions vary by region and are dependent on the habitat quality of the landscape. Areas of optimal habitat - such as the mountain ranges of the Pacific Northwest - can support high densities of cougars because here the big cats require less land and have smaller territories. In marginal habitat - such as arid regions of the Southwest - cougars are spaced further apart.
According to this mapping model, here is the maximum potential cougar habitat in each western state (sum of optimal+good+average land), excluding Texas due to specific circumstances:
1. Montana - 278,902 sq km
2. California - 235,122 sq km
3. New Mexico - 207,429 sq km
4. Oregon - 205,998 sq km
5. Arizona - 205,149 sq km
6. Wyoming - 194,804 sq km
7. Colorado - 171,019 sq km
8. Idaho - 159,844 sq km
9. Nevada - 140,399 sq km
10. Utah - 116,851 sq km
11. Washington - 112,158 sq km
12. South Dakota - 57,240 sq km
13. Nebraska - 44,574 sq km
14. North Dakota - 35,907 sq km
The first eleven states are fully within the current breeding range of the cougar. The maximum habitat percentage for these eleven states ranges from 49% (Nevada) to 82% (Oregon) of all land within the state. South Dakota, Nebraska, and North Dakota are at the edge of the cougar's current range, and breeding populations have only been documented within the westernmost areas of these states.
Persecution and Social Tolerance
Unfortunately, habitat suitability isn’t the only concern - protection from needless killing is a major factor that determines whether cougars can thrive. Historically, from the beginning of European colonization up until 1971, states paid bounties with the goal of eradicating cougars. Up until the 1960s, nearly all the information available on cougars was from government hunters and trappers, or incidental observations. Due to the elusive nature of these animals, myths and misconceptions still persist, even today with far more research available to us.
In North America, wildlife management of cougars and other large carnivores like wolves is largely defined by human tolerance (or lack of tolerance) for these animals or a perceived need to control predators to increase deer and elk populations. This can manifest in high hunting pressure and local policies that mandate lethal responses when a cougar is sighted in a residential area or eats a domestic sheep or goat. Some states, such as California, Washington, Wyoming and Colorado, have policies that allow for hazing or safe relocation of cougars that wander into cities. Others like Montana and Nebraska kill any cougar found in these areas.
As mentioned in the video, many people are under the impression that cougars are protected everywhere. While statewide populations are difficult to estimate, nearly all states with a surviving cougar population allow high levels of recreational hunting, usually for the majority of the year and with the use of hounds to pursue the cougar up a tree. Most states allow any cougar except spotted kittens (or females directly accompanied by spotted kittens) to be hunted. While only two states allow cougar trapping, cougars are frequently caught in traps and snares set for other animals, which often causes severe injury or death. The Cougar Fund, a Wyoming-based advocacy organization, sums it up well with the statement that state wildlife agencies treat cougars as "nothing more than a salable commodity to a minority trophy hunting community."
State-by-State Hunting Pressure
Arizona - 9-month cougar hunting season with yearly quotas or "harvest thresholds" set per hunting zone. For the 2023 season, the total statewide quota was 354, which is 20-30% of the estimated population. Hound hunting is permitted. Arizona does not relocate cougars and mandates the euthanasia of all male cougars found to be in conflict with humans.
California - None. Since 1972, cougars have been protected from hunting with a closed season and were designated as a specially protected animal in 1990.
Colorado - 5-month cougar hunting season with high yearly quotas or "harvest limits" set per hunting zone. Hound hunting is permitted in this state, as are electronic distress calls in some areas.
Idaho - Unlimited cougar hunting season with some regions open 10 months, some for 8 months, and the rest for 7 months. Hound hunting and electronic distress calls are permitted, and hunters can purchase two tags. Idaho is likely the deadliest state for cougars among those that have set hunting seasons, and its policies are additionally deadly to cougars found near residential areas even in absence of conflict.
Montana - 7.5-month cougar hunting season with high yearly quotas (along with female limits) set per hunting zone. Hound hunting is permitted during certain parts of the season. Montana is also one of a number of states to have a zero tolerance policy for cougars that cross town or city lines - killing the animal even in absence of any signs of aggression.
Nebraska - Has a very small, recently re-established cougar population (an estimated 33 total cougars in the Pine Ridge region) yet holds an annual winter hunting season until quotas have been met, in order to “halt growth or moderately reduce the population size”.
Nevada - Year-round cougar hunting season with a statewide annual quota of 247. Hound hunting is allowed and hunters can purchase up to two tags.
New Mexico - Year-round cougar hunting season with high quotas (along with female limits) set per hunting zone. Up until 2019, they were trapped as well. Cougars are also preemptively killed within certain areas to boost declining bighorn sheep populations decimated by drought and disease. Hound hunting is permitted.
North Dakota - Has a very small, recently re-established cougar population (estimated 77 cougars) yet holds a 7-month hunting season with an annual quota of 15 in the western region and an unlimited quota in the majority of the state. Hound hunting is allowed.
Oregon - Year-round cougar hunting season with high quota limits set across five hunting zones, but one of the few states to ban the use of hounds when killing cougars and manages for a minimum population of 3000 cougars.
South Dakota - Has a small, recently re-established cougar population (estimated at 277) yet holds a year-round trophy hunting season until the limit of 60 total cougars or 40 female cougars is reached, which is one of the highest per capita quotas in North America. Hound hunting is allowed.
Texas - Zero protection or monitoring, can be killed at any time with no limits or restrictions.
Utah - A recently passed 2023 law allows year-round, unlimited trophy hunting and trapping of cougars with a general hunting license. Prior to this, Utah had been steadily increasing hunting pressure on cougars due to a drought that caused a decline in the mule deer population.
Washington - 8-month cougar hunting season with varying limits or “harvest guidelines” set per hunting unit (some units have no harvest guidelines). One of the few states to prohibit the use of hounds to hunt cougars.
Wyoming - Manages “source, stable or sink” areas based on perceived social tolerance of cougars. Hound hunting is allowed. Of the 32 hunting units in Wyoming, 3 allow unlimited cougar trophy hunting, six have year-round seasons with quotas, two have 8-month seasons with quotas, and the remaining 21 units have 7-month seasons with varying quotas. Cougar hunting pressure is highest in the northeast and central parts of the state, and lowest in Teton County and the Wind River Valley.
Ecologically, there is no need to hunt cougars. Traditional game animals like deer, elk, moose and rabbits are prey species. That means that if their numbers are not kept in check (either by their natural predators or human hunters) populations will continue to grow until they eventually deplete the vegetation and crash due to starvation. In contrast, top predators like cougars occur at naturally low concentrations and self-regulate their own numbers.
Climate Factors
A bighorn sheep (a species sometimes preyed on by cougars) at South Shore Golf Course near the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo taken by a visitor to the resort.
Cougars are highly adaptable animals, able to live in a variety of habitats. Historically, they had an extremely wide range throughout the western hemisphere that once mirrored that of the deer. Even today, the cougar can be found as far north as British Columbia and as far south as the Patagonia region of Chile. They're not strictly limited to wilderness areas either. Gowan Batist, a sheep rancher who works with the Mountain Lion Foundation, pointed out (around the 30:53 mark in the video) that when landowners are educated on these animals and use non-lethal methods of co-existence, "ranches can really be refugia for all sorts of native species including mountain lions". Unlike some other North American predators like wolverines and Canada lynx (two species that require forest habitat with deep snowpack) they are not dependent on specific conditions to thrive.
However, while cougars are not a climate-sensitive species, climate does affect cougars, albeit in a more indirect way. In dry conditions, especially in arid states such as Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada (41:45), bighorn sheep and deer seek irrigated, well-watered areas where lush green grass and trees can be found. During drought where water is scarce, this often brings the deer and bighorns into human-developed green spaces, such as parks and golf courses. Because cougars follow their prey, drought years can bring cougars in close proximity to humans as well - a dangerous situation for cougars. Areas with negative perceptions of the big cats (such as the idea that they are habituated and extremely dangerous to public safety) are more likely to seek lethal measures, even in absence of conflict.
Other climate conditions can bring cougars closer to humans as well. Severe winters with heavy snowfall can cause cougars to seek shelter in the lower elevations. Wildfires also displace wildlife, including cougars, causing them to cross through residential areas away from the burned areas of land. In these situations, education and awareness rather than fear can make a huge difference in the survival of a cougar.
In part two, we'll look at a few of the worst and best states for cougars covered within the video, as well as some coexistence and advocacy methods that are discussed.
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