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Cougar has few friends

Letters to the Editor

Cougar has few friends

 

 

The next time there is a cougar sighting or mauling the first question that should be asked is: “Is there a food supply for the cougar?”

The traditional prey species of the cougar - the mule deer - is in critical population decline. All attempts since the mid nineties to pressure Fish & Wildlife staff to manage the mule deer have failed.

Typical of the statistical farce that is the backbone of wildlife management was the quote by the Global reporter commenting on the recent cougar mauling who stated that Vancouver Island had the largest cougar population in North America.

Excuse me, that quote was relevant when the blacktail deer, a relative of the mule deer, population increased after old growth logging increased the food source for the deer in the 1930s and 1940s. That food source today is a mere shadow of the past.

Talk to hunters at a major logging road junction in deer/elk country on the November long week-end and ask them how many animals they have been seeing. Ask them what they saw 10-20 years ago and the farce that is wildlife management becomes abundantly apparent.

Who is culpable for a cougar mauling, the cougar or the government? One thing for sure the cougar has few friends - an unfortunate predicament all our animals find themselves in.

 

 

Barry Brandow

Grand Forks