The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports:
A big threat to cougars now may be wolves. Since wolves were reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park, there are fewer cougar kittens. From 2004 to 2008, out of the four to six females tracked near Jackson, Wyo., only one litter was produced, Quigley said. It’s not yet clear whether wolves directly kill kittens or disrupt cougar females’ behavior.
So, we have been told, the wolves were the "missing link" in the Intermountain West ecology. Turns out we don't have any idea of all of the effects of our presumptions. Did the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service do a full environmental & ecological impact study that included how the introduction of wolves might relate to the survival of cougars?
Doubt it. Poor kitty cats.
So let's see. We first rescued the big cats by listing them as big game (where they can be managed reasonably) from predators (where they were being baited to death). Then we list the grizzlies as endangered. Then we introduce wolves, which appear to be harming the cougar population one way or another, and present a threat to our 3 caribou, who we want to protect as well. And the grizzlies like caribou meat too. This sort of mish-mash could go on and on.
So what do we have? We have a bunch of folks in power, with too much money, who like to play zoo.
For the full article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, click here.
