Study Recommends Whitetail Management With Mountain Lions
As wildlife managers in many whitetail-rich states struggle with sinking deer populations and expanding chronic wasting disease zones, an academic study released this week suggests that the escalating number of deer/vehicular accidents in selected Eastern states could be successfully reduced by introducing sustainable numbers of mountain lions to the region.
The study, published online this week in the journal Conservation Letters, ostensibly reflected an academic attempt to quantify the economic and social impact of reintroducing large carnivores into parts of the U.S. where they no longer exist.
The student-led project was directed by the University of Washington’s Laura Prugh and initiated as part of a community ecology class she taught in 2014 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
