I forgot to mention that Stephanie said that lions typically eat 1 deer a week. Jeb insisted that mule deer numbers were increasing throughout the badlands.
I would like to know if their method of estimating deer numbers in the lion breeding area differs from how they estimate deer numbers in the rest of the state.
Thanks Badland Mule!!! 52 deer per lion she says. That's possibly 52 ND hunters that will be denied the opportunity to hunt the 36 mule deer (70% of 52) or the 16 white tail deer that each lion will kill each year. Additionally, at $30 a head that's $1520 in deer tag revenue per lion that the NDGF won't be getting. (Keep in mind the NDGF has NO CLUE HOW MANY LIONS ARE IN ND by their own admission so the true cost can't be estimated)
Here's my cost benefit ratio for having lions in ND......
Each lion could possibly deny 52 ND residents the opportunity to hunt a deer each year.
Each lion could possibly deny ND residents the opportunity to hunt Elk, Bighorn Sheep, or Antelope as lions kill these species as well.
The quota for lions is so small that only a couple dozen ND residents will have the opportunity to take a lion.
Each lion possibly costs the NDGF over $1500 in tag revenue that ND hunters and sportsmen won't benefit from.
Lions are known livestock predators and if they kill 1 calf per year per lion that is a sizable expense to the rancher.
Lions are NOT an endangered species and there are sustained populations of this predator in just about EVERY rocky mountain state, Canada, and Mexico with hunting opportunities that are very affordable. Seems to me that having lions in ND takes from the hunters and sportsmen of ND WAY WAY WAY more than they will EVER give back. It really doesn't matter if the mule deer populations are increasing. It's logical to assume they would be increasing faster if there there were no lions killing them off resulting in more opportunity for ND citizens to hunt them.
Who benefits from having lions in ND?? Sounds to me like the only ones who benefit from lions in ND are those doing research on them.
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