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Mountain Lions to be spared in Arizona! (1 Viewer)

crispycreme

Well-known member
Whoo! It'd been a struggle over the past week as the Arizona Game and Fish Department had been planning to kill several Mountain Lions - deemed imprinted and dangerous - that were living in a popular Tucson park called Sabinon Canyon. Once this story broke, the outcry among the birding community here was loud and strong (god bless 'em!). The newspapers quickly picked up on the story (though not necessarily because of the birders), and the governor eventually made some public protests. In a state where we've seen entire mountain ranges levelled to the ground (you'd have to see it to believe it), every inkling of good news is heartening. Because enough people still do care, several magnificent creatures will retain their right to live.

Small moves, Ellie, small moves...

====================================

Wildlife officials call off Tucson lion hunt, plan to tranquilize

Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 18, 2004 02:29 PM

The mountain lions in Sabino Canyon will be tranquilized and removed to a private rehabilitation facility, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said Thursday afternoon, as it dropped plans to shoot and kill the lions.

Agency officials said the operation will achieve the goal Game and Fish has been after all along: To remove the lions from the canyon northeast of Tucson because the animals appear to have lost their wariness of humans.

In a news release, Steve Farrell, deputy director of the agency, called the change in approach "an exception to the rule, an extraordinary exception."

Since the Game and Fish commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to continue the agency's shoot-to-kill policy, public outcry has been loud and strong.

It was unclear immediately why the agency changed tactics. On Monday, commission chair Sue Chilton wrote to Gov. Janet Napolitano and said removing and handling drugged mountain lions in rugged terrain such as Sabino Canyon puts Game and Fish employees in "unreasonable jeopardy."

She also noted that adult mountain lions, as these are suspected to be, do not fare well in captivity.

Game and Fish officials said the lion removal would start sometime next week and would last for an undetermined amount of time.

Officials did not immediately identify the facility where the lions would be taken if they are captured.

Game officials believe there are three to four mountain lions in Sabino Canyon which pose a threat to public safety. There have been reports of the lions stalking people, although few of those reports have been confirmed and there have been no injuries.

The department is holding a question-and-answer session Friday in Tucson on the mountain-lion issue. The meeting runs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Pima County Supervisors building, 130 W. Congress.



Reach the reporter at [email protected] or at (602) 444-8963.
 
Good to hear your big cats have been spared.

Why have they levelled mountains? Is it for mining or housing or both or did someone just not like the view out of their back window?
 
<tangent>

For mining, I'm sure, Steve. Copper mining is (was) big in Arizona, and there are scars, gashes, blast holes, pits, etc. all over the place, and - near a town called Green Valley - a TWENTY MILE LONG "plateau" of what was once apparently an entire mountain range. It's one of the most hideous sights you can imagine (I can't fathom why people would want that for their back yard view!). That we can torment the earth in such a thorough, efficient, and *permanent* manner makes me wonder about the value of our species sometimes.

Here's an aerial snapshot of the carnage done over an eight year span:

http://www.imagingnotes.com/sepoct98/mininghi3.htm

and what it looks like on a topo map (you'll want broadband to view this one):

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=12&n=3529255&e=500194&s=500&size=l&datum=nad83&layer=DRG25

The red area is the city of Green Valley, to get some perspective of the scale.

</tangent>
 
I have been hearing about this on the news and we have to put a stop to this kind of thing! Just because the Mountain Lions are not afraid of humans anymore, and there have been a few attacks, people are panicing. We do not want another beautiful creature to be put on the "extinct species list". I love all types of cats and I'm glad Janet Napolitano Is stopping this outrageous behaviour. -Ken "Save our cats!!"
 
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