Mountain lion action
plan
In 2004, the Arizona Game and Fish Department
held three public workshops to take public input
on a draft protocol for responding to human-mountain
lion encounters. The workshops were held in Tucson,
Flagstaff, and Phoenix, and were attended by 240
people.
A summary report was generated for the Tucson
workshop and the report was posted on the department
Web site, where additional public comment was
taken for 30 days. The results of the Tucson workshop,
along with additional public comment, became the
basis for the Flagstaff and Phoenix workshops.
Additional changes were made to the protocol based
on those workshops.
In February 2005 the department hosted a focus
group with participants from stakeholder groups
to discuss and test the protocol. Several human-mountain
lion encounter scenarios and department responses
were reviewed and critiqued by the focus group
and participants. Among those attending were representatives
of sportsmen's clubs, Sierra Club, Animal Defense League of Arizona, and university-based wildlife experts.
Participants reached consensus, and forwarded
a final protocol out of that meeting.
The final protocol was approved by the department
director. Following the director's approval, employee
training on the elements of the protocol began
immediately and information about the protocol
began to be incorporated into the department's
public education activities. A copy of the protocol
was provided to the Governor's Office and is available
to the public by clicking the link below.
AZGFD
Action Plan for Minimizing and Responding to Lion/Human
Interactions (protocol) (PDF 240kb)
Get life history
and habitat information about mountain lions
in Arizona here. |
