The below chart represents the cumulative number of cougars killed in eleven western states over the course of a century. Individual states’ cougar kill numbers vary and fall within the range depicted below. (Note: Following the period of persecution, game agencies assigned official hunt seasons to restrict the numbers of cougars that could be killed. In spite of this, the killing of cougars has increased four to five times since these “protections” were implemented in the late 1960s.)
© 2007 by Steven G. Torres, redrawn by Rick A. Hopkins of Live Oak Associates, Inc.