9/27/2009 6:00:00 AM At feeding time, elk don't need your help Predators will follow wildlife to populated areas, G&F warns
Arizona Game and Fish Department/ Courtesy
Virginia Gouldsbury and Tyler Richins, both Game and Fish wildlife managers, remove a garbage lid from an elk's neck in the Hualapai Mountains a few years ago.
KINGMAN - The local office of the Arizona Game and Fish Department is pleading with residents of the Hualapai Mountains to stop feeding the deer and elk populations, lest they find themselves feeding a hungry mountain lion as well.
It's been a frequent refrain from Game and Fish officials, but it's no less urgent now than in years past. In a recent news release, Zen Mocarski, the department's local information and education manager, warned that a mountain lion recently killed an elk between two houses in the Pine Lake community of the Hualapais. Despite being a species normally active during twilight hours, the mountain lion was later spotted walking through a neighborhood in broad daylight, according to one sportsman's report.
"I'm concerned," Mocarski said. "These types of situations can escalate quickly. Feeding issues in this area have created a smorgasbord for this lion, and potentially other predators."
Officer Lainie Antolik is a wildlife manager for Game and Fish who is active in the Hualapai area. She said many of the elk she's seen have lost their natural instinct to forage due to the easy availability of human food. Some people have even set up feeding troughs in their front yards to attract elk, deer and even javelina.
"Some of the neighbors have named these animals and call them by name," Antolik said. "We understand people love to watch wildlife, but we want them to watch them in the wild. We don't want them to bring them into their communities by feeding them and creating watchable wildlife that way."
While it's rare for mountain lions to attack humans, Antolik said that's mainly because the lions aren't used to humans and typically run away from them. With so much free prey in the area now, however, she said it's possible for a stray mountain lion to stick around long enough to lose its natural fear of humans.
"They come into the community, they've got deer and elk everywhere they can feed on, they see humans, and they'll start getting used to them," Antolik said. "Once they get used to them, they don't get bothered by them anymore and they tend to stay in the area."
Antolik noted that once mountain lions make a kill, they will typically cover it with leaves and come back to feed off it for several days. If the kills are hidden in an area where humans live, however, an unsuspecting person may attract the lion's attention by wandering too close.
"Someone may be walking by that prey item and not know it, and then they'll be between the lion and its prey, unknowingly," Antolik said.
According to Mocarski, Game and Fish had to kill two mountain lions in the late 1990s after the lions began preying on local pets in addition to their usual quarry. If those residents don't want the same thing to happen this time, he said, they should stop feeding now, rather than later - and remember who's ultimately responsible if the lion does become a public safety threat.
"When a problem escalates, those who fed the animals won't accept the responsibility for when these elk, deer or household pets become victims to a predator," Mocarski said. "If (the current) lion becomes a public safety threat and is killed, those feeding will turn a blind eye and blame Game and Fish."
Aside from mountain lions, however, Antolik noted that the elk and deer themselves are still wild animals, no matter how used they are to eating out of people's hands, and they too can pose a threat to the humans who feed them. The opposite is true as well, since many human foods lack the nutrition that elk and deer get from their typical diet of grasses, flowering plants and tree sprouts. Once they get used to eating human food, Antolik said, many of them stop their natural foraging habits in favor of raiding local garbage cans.
"If you see the elk and deer in the communities, they're not very healthy looking," Antolik said. "We've had three incidences over the last several years where we've had elk with trash can lids stuck around their necks. Elk should not be foraging through trash cans."
Antolik said she and Mocarski will attend a homeowner's association meeting to discuss the problem further at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 12 in the Kingman Fire Station No. 2 at 1605 Harrison St. Based on past results, however, Antolik was already skeptical that the meeting would actually change anyone's behavior.
"The people that tend to show up to these meetings are the ones who agree with us and want to see something done," she said.
For more information or to report mountain lion activity, call Game and Fish at (928) 692-7700 and press 0 for the front office.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, October 22, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
This comment is directed at Art and anyone else that does not understand the Game and Fish laws in this area. Currently there are no laws against feeding wildlife in Mohave county. Pima and Maricopa counties are the only counties where feeding wildlife laws exist. People that feed wildlife in those two counties can receive citations and fines but not in Mohave county. That leaves us with only one option, education. We have asked people in the Hualapai community to stop feeding for years. We have done educational talks and short of going to each and everyone's doors in the community have tried to reach as many people as possible. So for your suggestion to start enforcing existing laws, they do not currently exist in this county. If they did, Game and Fish would be enforcing them. The county park also does not have a law that they can enforce regarding feeding wildlife. Hopefully one day we will have a law that we can enforce in this area. Just because the Game and Fish officer is skeptical that people's behavior will change (based on years of trying), that doesn't mean that she is not hopeful.
Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
In the 90's we lived in the Hualapai Mtns, I had to go out at 5AM, in the dark, and beat on a Mtn Lion with a snow shovel to save my dog, who wound up blind in one eye. The nut jobs there still didn't stop feeding the wild animals, so we sold our house and moved. All most of them cared about was their booze. Give em a big fine!
Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Article comment by:
Ennis
FreedomLover -- so what is your point?
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
Article comment by:
the roo
That picture was actually of an officer tazing an elk...I know, I was there and overheard the elk saying "Don't taze me, bro!"
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
[Deleted] residents of the Hualapai Mountain area...DO NOT FEED THE WILD ANIMALS!
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Well it's about time Game and Fish took this problem seriously. The people at the lodge and nearby homes treat these WILD animals like their family pets. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt or killed, then of course they will blame Game and Fish.
Give these idiots a ticket for feeding wildlife. Why should they be treated any different than other parts of the state?
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Why dont the people of the hualapais find a sportsmen that they can call to come and take care of the lion problems that they may have. I know that feeding (or baiting) according to the az game and fish is prohibitted and against the law, so it seems it need to be enforced.
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
Article comment by:
FreedomLover
The elk look extremely healthy to me. Clear eyes, nice coats. Mountain lions frequently go to populated areas for food. I had one walk through my backyard in the middle of Phoenix. No dear or elk there. Do an internet search using words 'Mountain Lion Chihuahuas' & read how 3 teeny Chihuahuas cornered a Mtn Lion who had intended on eating them.
Posted: Monday, September 28, 2009
Article comment by:
Art
I would think that a meeting as mentioned in the article... "meeting to discuss the problem further at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 12..." will be pretty ineffective at stopping this problem.
IF THEY ARE SERIOUS, and I believe they should be since the PUBLIC SAFETY is directly threatened, then they should tell the Game and Fish officer, and the Hualapai Park rangers, to ENFORCE THE EXISTING LAWS against tampering with wildlife.
Again, IF THEY ARE SERIOUS, they could simply go through the area and warn everyone that tickets, fines, and even criminal charges will be comming for anyone caught with open and available food or garbage on their property. After the initial public warning, then start handing out tickets... That would stop this problem, but the public meeting mentioned here is going to be ineffective, as the Game and Fish officer herself has said: "...however, Antolik was already skeptical that the meeting would actually change anyone's behavior."
Posted: Sunday, September 27, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Last year our family went to the Hualapais for a family picnic right close to the childrens playground. We were excited and facinated to see a large herd of elk laying close to the picnic area. As we set out our picnic several of the elk came right up to the table to help themselves. We had to entice them away from the table by taking treats farther and farther from the table so they wouldn't push at the children. These are very large animals and although we loved seeing them it was a bit scarey. Thanks for the reminder.
