Research Investigates Impact of Border Barrier on Mountain Lions

PLEASANTON — In Texas mountain lions are classified as a non-game species. That means there is no defined hunting season. 

However, in June, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously passed a proposal to prohibit canned hunting of mountain lions. The regulations, designed to support ethical hunting and trapping practices while providing flexibility for landowners to manage mountain lions, also included a 36-hour trap check. Despite these measures, there is growing concern about how mountain lions are being impacted by border security activities. 

Dr. Lisanne Petracca, with the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, discussed the South Texas Lion Project funded by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the recent South Texas Wildlife Conference.

Petracca said the mountain lion ecology project in the South Texas borderlands is part of a larger transboundary carnivore project split between CKWRI and the Borderlands Research Institute in Alpine. The contract focuses explicitly on the impacts of the border barrier system on mountain lions and black bears. Specifically, the goal is to identify potential impacts to movements, population fragmentation, density, foraging ecology, genetics and connectivity.

Additionally, researchers are looking to identify potential locations of mitigation work to offset any adverse impacts of the 30-foot, steel border barrier still actively being constructed, and to promote recovery through these mitigation efforts.

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