Mountain lion activity on Fort Berthold
Mountain lion activity on Fort Berthold
Three cats killed since November
By CHRIS ERICKSON
BHG News Service
Three mountain lions have been killed since November on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Game & Fish Director Fred Poitra said generally the predators were harvested in December and January, and the average on reservation lands has been between one and two for the past five years.
Poitra said one 110-pound female cat was taken in the Twin Buttes Segment on Dec. 17 and one 120-pound male lion was taken in the Badlands by the Lost Bridge Area, Mandaree Segment on Feb. 24. Both lions had been killed legally. He noted that one female kitten was taken illegally on Nov. 25 by the Lost Bridge Area, Mandaree Segment.
“We have sold a lot of non-member Fur Bearer Permits which the mountain lion permit is included with the permit,” Poitra said. “The interest is probably that this Tribe has them available for non-member residents and non-member residents who live outside of the state of North Dakota.”
According to the Three Affiliated Tribes 2011 Small Game and Furbearer Proclamation, the experimental mountain lion hunting season is in place to assess the predator’s current status and to gather important biological information on the species.
The experimental season was put in place due to an increasing number of mountain lion reports and suspected depredations in recent years. The proclamation set a quota of five mountain lions on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation for the Three Affiliated Tribes mountain lion season. According to the proclamation, “this quota will enable the department to obtain biological information on lions without causing irreparable harm to the species.”
