2006 OREGON COUGAR MANAGEMENT PLAN Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 3406 Cherry Ave. NE Salem, OR 97303 (503) 947-6000 Roy Elicker, Interim Director EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2006 Oregon Cougar Management Plan updates the 1993-1998 Oregon Cougar Management Plan. This update will guide Oregon’s cougar management, and provides strategies for resolution of human conflicts with cougars. This plan revision process was initiated in March 2005 with selection of an internal plan revision committee. The committee consisted of ODFW biologists who had experience with cougar management in Oregon and included 5 district biologists, 2 research biologists and 2 headquarters staff biologists. The plan was developed using an open, public process that included an external peer review, two focus group meetings, eight public meetings around the state, and a three-month public comment period. The plan includes chapters on cougar biology; Oregon cougar data; a historical perspective of cougar management in Oregon; a discussion of livestock, human/pet, and game mammal conflicts associated with cougars; and cougar management goals incorporated into an adaptive management approach for the future. This plan establishes five objectives that seek to maintain viable, healthy cougar populations in Oregon, reduces conflicts with cougars, and manages cougars in a manner compatible with other game mammal species. Objective 1 seeks to manage the state’s cougar population at a level well above that required for long term sustainability. Achieving and monitoring this objective is complicated. The challenge is to meet the objective without having perpetual research projects in every Cougar Management Zone in the state which is impractical and cost prohibitive. Because the minimum population objective is well above the level of sustainability, and because of the demonstrated resilience of cougar populations (Cougar Management Guidelines, 2005, page 40), exact counts of cougars are not necessary to achieve Objective 1. To accomplish this objective, several strategies recommended in the Cougar Management Guidelines (2005) have been employed. Zone management with mortality quotas will be used to insure harvest does not reduce the population below objective levels. Harvest will occur at three levels of intensity to allow for maintenance of source and sink populations (Cougar Management Guidelines, 2005, page 73-75). Two indicators of cougar abundance will be used. A deterministic, density dependent population model, which utilizes data collected from all cougar mortalities in Oregon, will be used for predicting outcomes on a short-term basis in an adaptive management approach (Cougar Management Guidelines, 2005, page 58). Proportion of adult females in the harvest will also be used to monitor cougar population trajectory (Cougar Management Guidelines, 2005, page 77). In addition, more specific data may be collected in more intensive, smaller scale research studies (Cougar Management Guidelines, 2005, page 77) as well as developing alternative population models that could incorporate stochastic variability for each zone. Objectives 2 – 4 address solving conflict. The primary strategy to solve conflict since 1995 has been to give advice and, when necessary, remove the problem animal. While solving some problems, this strategy has generally not been effective. Conflict has increased as cougars have expanded into previously unoccupied habitats of human habitation. Human population increases in some parts of the state have exacerbated the problem. Steps necessary to achieve these objectives are straight forward and do not depend on cougar population estimates. In I 2006 Oregon Cougar Management Plan Adopted 13 April 2006 addition to advice and removal of specific cougars, specific areas with elevated conflict may also be targeted to reduce conflict by reducing cougar numbers. These targeted areas are intended to create a buffer of low cougar density, thereby reducing conflict. Objective 5 seeks to achieve established management objectives for other game mammal species. Only those Wildlife Management Units (WMU’s) where elk or deer populations are below established management objectives, have shown a history of decline and lack of ability to sustain themselves, and where evidence indicates cougar predation is a primary factor may be targeted for cougar population reduction. For bighorn sheep, areas around specific herds will be targeted when evidence indicates cougar predation is a primary factor. At this time, of 66 WMU’s in Oregon, 5 WMU’s for elk, 14 WMU’s for mule deer, and 5 herds of bighorn sheep meet criteria for reduction in cougar numbers. All management activities will be carried out in an adaptive management approach, as suggested in the Cougar Management Guidelines (2005, pages 74 and 81), which allows for monitoring, evaluation, and changes in management based on results. Those strategies that are not successful at meeting stated objectives would be modified or discontinued. Numerous indicators will be used to monitor success. Total mortality, hunter harvest success rates, and biological data will continue to be collected. These data will contribute to population modeling for each Cougar Management Zone. Cougar-human conflict will continue to be monitored using non-hunting mortalities and complaints concerning human safety, pets, and livestock. herd composition and population status of deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and other game mammals. Research projects will collect information on movements, density, predation rates, and will be able to better detect other factors such as disease. Legal status, management, and population levels of Oregon cougars have undergone significant changes since the mid-1800’s. Cougars may have been extirpated by 1970 had they not been placed under ODFW’s management jurisdiction as a game mammal in 1967. Since 1967, management has varied from closed seasons (no public hunting), to controlled hunting with dogs allowed during specific times and areas, to a harvest quota system with unlimited tag availability for areas open nearly year-round with hunting dogs not allowed. Cougar populations have responded to these management changes. Cougars have expanded their range into all available Oregon habitats, and populations have increased from an estimated 214 in 1961 to 3,114 in 1994. The 2003 statewide cougar population was estimated to be 5,101. Correspondingly, conflict has increased from 36 complaints in 1986 to 697 in 2003. In 1995, ODFW established six cougar management zones to administer hunting seasons. ODFW’s mission is to protect and enhance Oregon’s fish and wildlife and their habitats for use and enjoyment by present and future generations. Cougar management is complicated by the dichotomy of sentiment toward cougars among Oregon residents. This plan presents ODFW’s strategy to meet its mission and incorporate public attitudes and desires. It is a plan that will be updated and rewritten as agency policies, new biological data, and human and/or cougar populations change. Estimating cougar numbers and population responses to management actions is not an exact science, especially with limited research that allows for predictable outcomes. In developing this plan, ODFW used >20 years of biological data from Oregon cougars and rarely used population parameter estimates based on literature. Although values presented in the plan appear deterministic, and are presented without variability estimates, annual variation is included II 2006 Oregon Cougar Management Plan Adopted 13 April 2006 via the 20-plus years of data collection. ODFW does not assert that data and associated analyses are absolute. Rather, information presented in the plan represents a logical, scientific-based evaluation of the present status of cougars in Oregon based in all relevant data available. III 2006 Oregon Cougar Management Plan Adopted 13 April 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................I TABLE OF CONTENTS ...........................................................................................................IV LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................IX PURPOSE OF THE PLAN......................................................................................................... X CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER II: LIFE HISTORY OF COUGARS ...................................................................... 4 Taxonomy ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Reproduction and Productivity ...................................................................................................5 Movement, Dispersal, and Home Range..................................................................................... 6 Density............................................................................................................................................ 7 Food Habits.................................................................................................................................... 9 Interactions with Ungulates ......................................................................................................