Cougar Hunting essays

Cougar Hunting essays In Washington state voters banning the use of hounds for cougar hunting in 1996. Cougars, also known as mountain lions or pumas, are native to Washington State. About 2,500 live in this state, double the populations of the early 1980s, and their numbers are growing, in the last years since this law has been pass. Cougars are the reason the deer population is going down; the average cougar kills about 65 deer a year. The following stats are a picture to show what is happening and will keep happening until we pass the hound hunting law. There have been 10 fatal cougar attacks on people recorded since 1980, but five of those were in the past 10 years. In Colorado, cougars have attacked three hikers in the last year, including killing a 10-year-old hiker in July 1997 at Rocky Mountain National Park. Non-lethal attacks are also on the rise for instance, a 6-year-old boy non-fatally attacked on July 31, 1998, in Montana. In California, a ban on all sport hunting of cougars helped double their numbers since 1972 to an estimated 5,000 animals. Even after cougars killed two California hikers, voters rejected a 1996 proposal to reinstate hunting. Hunters note that an average of 100 "problem" cougars are killed each year in California, about twice the number killed annually by hunters before the 1972 ban. Many hunters and some game officials believe cougars are becoming bolder and less scared of man in the absence of hunting. As Washington expands to the woods and outer city limits the cougars are being forced from there home and are becoming dangerously close to our family and friends. If they are not controlled they will dominate the prey and people around them. The use of hounds would be a great aid in the regaining of the cougar population in Washington and the rest of the USA. The cougar population will go back to normal when hounds are legal to use again. T ...