DNR biologist tells Iowans to be unafraid of mountain lions
 
 
(Note: Language deception has been underlined to make it easier to pick out.)
 
November 18, 2004
 
No author provided at originating website.
 
The Waterloo - Cedar Falls Courier
 
P.O. Box 540, 501 Commercial Street

Waterloo, Iowa 50704
 
800-798-1717 or 319-291-1400
 
 
To submit a Letter to the Editor: newsroom@wcfcourier.com
 
Hinton, Iowa (Associated Press) - A state wildlife biologist told a crowd that they should not be afraid of mountain lions, which seem to be returning to Iowa after an absence of more than 130 years.

Ron Andrews of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said he's received 500 reports of sightings, but only a few have been confirmed.

"We don't believe that every report we get is a mountain lion," he said.
 
Mountain lions, also known as cougars, pumas, panthers, painters and catamounts, were the first native animals to leave Iowa, Andrews said.

The DNR started acknowledging mountain lion sightings three years ago as the animals moved east, Andrews said. But he said many people are mistaking dogs, bobcats and coyotes for mountain lions.

Three mountain lions have been killed in Iowa since 2000. One was shot in Ireton in northwest Iowa, and a second was shot in south central Iowa near Chariton. A third was hit by a truck near Harlan, in western Iowa.

Previously, the last documented shooting was in 1867.

The nearest large population of mountain lions is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where about 200 live, Andrew said. He said there are only about 10 in Iowa.

Andrews said young male cougars are often kicked out of their habitat and wander searching for food -- deer, rabbit, beaver, raccoon, coyotes and possibly livestock.

In Iowa it is legal to kill a mountain lion, he said, although there is currently a petition to place mountain lions on the state endangered species list.

Some of the 30 audience members said they were concerned that if the animals become considered an endangered species, their numbers will increase.

"We're going to fight it," Andrews said of the petition. "We're going to discourage it."