ND lion study, G&F live-trapping lions outside TR Park
Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 2:03 pm
http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/ ... /id/46440/
from the Dickinson [ND] Press
Sounds like they could use some help from hounders!
Published March 31, 2011, 12:11 AM
Getting back on track
An increased effort to learn more about mountain lions in North Dakota is currently taking place right in Dickinson’s backyard.
By: Justin Nutter, The Dickinson Press
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Mountain lion
Press File Photo The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has increased its efforts to trap mountain lions in the Badlands region and fit them with radio collars. Department biologists believe this will lead to useful information about the mountain lion population in North Dakota, which hasn't been calculated since 2006.
An increased effort to learn more about mountain lions in North Dakota is currently taking place right in Dickinson’s backyard.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is working alongside biologists at Theodore Roosevelt National Park to trap mountain lions and fit them with radio collars in an attempt to gain useful information about the usually secretive animals.
Michael Oehler, a wildlife biologist at the park, said NDGF has spearheaded the ongoing project, while the park is primarily being used for any necessary assistance in the tracking process.
“We’re just providing housing and helping out with some technical stuff,” Oehler said.
NDGF purchased four real-time GPS radio collars in 2006. The original intent was to use the collars on mountain lions that sprung traps in the area during bobcat and coyote season.
However, only one lion has been fitted for a collar since then, so department officials decided to attempt trapping lions themselves in 2011.
“So we’re being proactive this year,” said Stephanie Tucker, an NDGF furbearer biologist. “We actually hired a temporary trapper to go out and set up draw bait for the mountain lions. When we get a mountain lion that hits the draw bait, we’ll use either foot holds or foot snares to attempt to trap it. If we do live capture one, we’ll go out and fit it with a radio collar.”
No actual work will be done within the limits of the park, as there is no trapping agreement currently in place between NDGF and park officials. Instead, the trapper has set up various bait piles in the surrounding area.
Tucker added that trapped lions will need to be examined before they can be fitted for a collar. The department is only interested in collaring adult lions that won’t leave the state.
“We only want to radio collar resident adults — mountain lions that we’re certain will stay in the Badlands region,” she said. “If, by chance, we catch a mountain lion that isn’t old enough, we’ll probably mark them and let them go. When I say mark, we’ll probably put ear tags in them.”
It must also be verified that trapped lions are healthy enough to be fitted for a collar. Lions can often be injured in the trapping process and are deemed too unhealthy to continue with the procedure. In February 2007, NDGF examined a female lion that had sprung a bobcat trap in the area, but it was injured due to complications in the trapping procedure and later had to be euthanized.
Oehler said it’s not uncommon for trapped lions to already be in poor health, which makes it difficult to find lions suitable for collars.
“That lion was actually hypothermic when we got to it,” he said. “It had been in the trap for some time before we got to it. When people catch them in bobcat traps or whatever, they let us or Game and Fish know. We try to get a tracking collar on them, but most of them we find are already half-dead when we get there.”
NDGF hasn’t made an official estimate of North Dakota’s mountain lion population since the collars were purchased. At that time, sightings were on the rise and researchers said there were enough habitats to support 45-75 mountain lions in the Badlands area.
Tucker said a primary reason for the increased trapping efforts is to gain valuable information on the animals’ living habits, which will likely lead to a more accurate and up-to-date population estimate.
“This will be the start of baseline information for North Dakota,” she said. “Specifically, we’ll be looking for habitat use, movement patterns, food habits and survival. A few years back, when mountain lions were kind of a hot topic in North Dakota, the sightings kind of peaked. Everybody reported one when they saw one. Now, the novelty has kind of worn off a little bit, so the number of sightings has gone down.”
from the Dickinson [ND] Press
Sounds like they could use some help from hounders!
Published March 31, 2011, 12:11 AM
Getting back on track
An increased effort to learn more about mountain lions in North Dakota is currently taking place right in Dickinson’s backyard.
By: Justin Nutter, The Dickinson Press
SendPrint
Mountain lion
Press File Photo The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has increased its efforts to trap mountain lions in the Badlands region and fit them with radio collars. Department biologists believe this will lead to useful information about the mountain lion population in North Dakota, which hasn't been calculated since 2006.
An increased effort to learn more about mountain lions in North Dakota is currently taking place right in Dickinson’s backyard.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is working alongside biologists at Theodore Roosevelt National Park to trap mountain lions and fit them with radio collars in an attempt to gain useful information about the usually secretive animals.
Michael Oehler, a wildlife biologist at the park, said NDGF has spearheaded the ongoing project, while the park is primarily being used for any necessary assistance in the tracking process.
“We’re just providing housing and helping out with some technical stuff,” Oehler said.
NDGF purchased four real-time GPS radio collars in 2006. The original intent was to use the collars on mountain lions that sprung traps in the area during bobcat and coyote season.
However, only one lion has been fitted for a collar since then, so department officials decided to attempt trapping lions themselves in 2011.
“So we’re being proactive this year,” said Stephanie Tucker, an NDGF furbearer biologist. “We actually hired a temporary trapper to go out and set up draw bait for the mountain lions. When we get a mountain lion that hits the draw bait, we’ll use either foot holds or foot snares to attempt to trap it. If we do live capture one, we’ll go out and fit it with a radio collar.”
No actual work will be done within the limits of the park, as there is no trapping agreement currently in place between NDGF and park officials. Instead, the trapper has set up various bait piles in the surrounding area.
Tucker added that trapped lions will need to be examined before they can be fitted for a collar. The department is only interested in collaring adult lions that won’t leave the state.
“We only want to radio collar resident adults — mountain lions that we’re certain will stay in the Badlands region,” she said. “If, by chance, we catch a mountain lion that isn’t old enough, we’ll probably mark them and let them go. When I say mark, we’ll probably put ear tags in them.”
It must also be verified that trapped lions are healthy enough to be fitted for a collar. Lions can often be injured in the trapping process and are deemed too unhealthy to continue with the procedure. In February 2007, NDGF examined a female lion that had sprung a bobcat trap in the area, but it was injured due to complications in the trapping procedure and later had to be euthanized.
Oehler said it’s not uncommon for trapped lions to already be in poor health, which makes it difficult to find lions suitable for collars.
“That lion was actually hypothermic when we got to it,” he said. “It had been in the trap for some time before we got to it. When people catch them in bobcat traps or whatever, they let us or Game and Fish know. We try to get a tracking collar on them, but most of them we find are already half-dead when we get there.”
NDGF hasn’t made an official estimate of North Dakota’s mountain lion population since the collars were purchased. At that time, sightings were on the rise and researchers said there were enough habitats to support 45-75 mountain lions in the Badlands area.
Tucker said a primary reason for the increased trapping efforts is to gain valuable information on the animals’ living habits, which will likely lead to a more accurate and up-to-date population estimate.
“This will be the start of baseline information for North Dakota,” she said. “Specifically, we’ll be looking for habitat use, movement patterns, food habits and survival. A few years back, when mountain lions were kind of a hot topic in North Dakota, the sightings kind of peaked. Everybody reported one when they saw one. Now, the novelty has kind of worn off a little bit, so the number of sightings has gone down.”