Utah increases cougar hunt quota despite criticism

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah wildlife officials will allow more cougars to be hunted this year due to an increase in attacks on farm animals and indications the animals’ population is doing well in the state.

The decision last week by the Utah Wildlife Board to increase the number of cougars that can be hunted to 522 — up by about 5 percent from last year — triggered backlash from the Humane Society, which argues the increase is unnecessary and nothing more than a way to appease trophy hunters.

The yearly cougar hunting quota ebbs and flows by year based on research about the animal’s population and data about livestock killed, said Leslie McFarland, mammals program coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

The number of sheep and cattle killed by cougars nearly doubled last year, she said. Most of the regions where the increases were approved are in the areas where the attacks occurred, she said.

Read more: http://universe.byu.edu/2016/09/13/utah-increases-cougar-hunt-quota-despite-criticism1/