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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Allen" data-source="post: 173619" data-attributes="member: 389">Game and Fish Department investigate mountain lion kill     <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><a href="https://bismarcktribune.com/users/profile/LaurenD" target="_blank">LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune</a>                                     [h=4]<a href="https://bismarcktribune.com/users/profile/LaurenD" target="_blank">Lauren Donovan</a>[/h]                              </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">May 23, 2017                             </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">             </li> </ul>      The state Game and Fish Department is investigating the possible illegal non-reporting of a mountain lion kill in the Moffit area, following evidence that one was seen on a game camera and later reported killed out of season.Jeb Williams, the department's wildlife chief, said individuals are allowed to kill lions out of season in order to protect their property, but the animal must be turned into the department within 24 hours. Non-reporting is a Class B misdemeanor. The animal was reportedly killed sometime in early May. The season closed March 31. David Day, a local Moffit rancher, said he believes there is yet another lion in the area, following his discovery of a partially eaten Angus cow in his cow yard a few days after learning the game camera-recorded lion had been killed. He said he’s heard of no lion activity in the area since finding his dead animal.Day said Game and Fish wardens did investigate the situation with Day's cow, an animal he values at $2,500. Day said the department needs to be more proactive, especially if it knows a lion is in the area.Day voiced a recurring rumor: He said he believes the department is releasing lions and wants that to stop.“There’s too many all of a sudden for them not to be,” he said.Williams said the belief that the department is bringing lions into North Dakota dates back almost a decade, when someone went on a radio talk show and claimed he’d observed such activity. Williams said the department tracked down the caller and he recanted his story, but the misinformation continues to persist. “We continue to deny it because it continues to not be true,” Williams said.The appearance of mountain lions starting in the early 2000s is primarily related to a healthy population in the Black Hills area that reached a tipping point triggering dispersal over a wider range, according to Williams.He said the occasional lion seen east of the Missouri River is most likely a young transient male that’s been kicked out of a territory by an older male. The river can be a travel corridor; however, until the one allegedly killed in the Moffit area earlier this month, there had only been three killed in the past five years in the Bismarck and south region.“We don’t want a lion to take out someone’s livestock. If there’s going to be any tolerance for mountain lions — and some people have zero tolerance — there needs to be regulations in place,” said Williams, adding the department will work with and assist property owners with lion predation problems.A total of 10 mountain lions were killed in North Dakota during this year’s season, when the allowable number was reduced. All of those were in the Zone 1 Badlands area. Three were killed in the early season and seven in the later season, when coon dogs are allowed. Three were females, Williams said. (Reach Lauren Donovan at 701-220-5511 or <a href="mailto:lauren@westriv.com">lauren@westriv.com</a>.)</blockquote>

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