Study Area
Uncompahgre Plateau
Project Status
Completed
Research Objectives
Research Description
Colorado Parks and Wildlife managers need reliable information on mountain lions in Colorado in order to develop management strategies that work to address public concerns and maintain healthy lion populations. However, the knowledge and tools needed to do so were limited, promoting this 10-year project.
The purpose of this study is to learn how sport-hunting impacts mountain lion population dynamics, develop tools for estimating lion abundance, and to develop strategies for managing lion populations. This knowledge will be provided to wildlife managers and to the public for application to lion management and conservation.
This project was designed with two 5-year periods, a reference period and a treatment period. In the reference period (completed 2004-2009), CPW closed the study area to mountain lion hunting. The reference period provided data on lion population dynamics without lion deaths caused by sport-hunting. During this time, researchers collected data on population abundance, sex and age structure, reproduction, and sources of mortality.
In the treatment period (2009-2014), researchers are manipulating the mountain lion population with sport hunting. The hunting treatment is designed to test assumptions CPW applies to other lion populations managed with sport-hunting in Colorado. The same type of data collected in the reference period is being collected in the treatment period for comparison.
In both study periods, researchers gathered mountain lion population characteristics by capturing, marking, radio-collaring, and tissue-sampling lions in the study area (e.g., skin, blood, saliva, tongues from dead lions). To date (August 2014), over 220 lions have been captured, marked, and sampled.
Moreover, in collaboration with researchers at Colorado State University and Oklahoma State University, CPW researchers have tested mountain lion tissues for diseases. CPW researchers are also collaborating with geneticists from Arizona State University to examine lion population genetics, relatedness, and reproductive success.
CPW expects the research findings to be applied to improve mountain lion management in Colorado and in public education and outreach.Moose Research Projects:
]]>Study Area
Northwest Colorado (Rabbit Ears mountain range); Northeast Colorado (Laramie River drainage); Southwest Colorado (Upper portions of the Rio Grande River and near Lake City)
Project Status
Completed
Research Objectives
Project Description
With limited budgets, wildlife managers must often prioritize management funding based on details such as:
Moose are less abundant in Colorado than elk and deer, thus funding for moose management tends to be lower in comparison. In addition, moose populations are more difficult to estimate because most of Colorado's moose herds live in forests, making aerial observation difficult. As a result, reliable moose population data are limited. Without these data, wildlife managers cannot make fully informed licensing decisions.
Fortunately, other factors besides population abundance can inform wildlife managers about moose population status. For example, reduced pregnancy and survival rates can indicate low food availability due to increased herd sizes. Using these other factors, researchers will develop population models that wildlife managers can use to manage moose populations in the state.
Related Publications:
Bergman, Eric J. 2013-2022. Evaluation and incorporation of life history traits, nutritional status, and browse characteristics in Shira's moose management in Colorado. (Annual federal aid progress reports combined into one document)
Study Area
Western North America
Project Status
Completed
Research Objectives
Project Description
The challenges facing elk management in western landscapes are increasing at a rapid pace as changes to habitat, climate and predator communities influence elk population demography and behavior.
In an effort to understand these new challenges and effectively manage elk in the future, researchers across seven states in western North America began to communicate about shared management challenges and research needs. Collaborators decided that a region-wide study across all the states would provide managers a big-picture view of how broad-scale drivers are influencing elk populations.
Therefore, CPW collaborated with state and federal wildlife agencies in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Utah to investigate large-scale temporal and spatial patterns in adult female elk survival and cause-specific mortality.
Results from this study will help wildlife managers better respond to changing environmental conditions in the future.
Collaborators for this project include personnel from the USGS Montana Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, USGS Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit, USGS Wyoming Cooperative Research Unit, Idaho Fish and Game, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and Yellowstone National Park.
Associated Publications
Brodie, J., H. Johnson, M. Mitchell, P. Zager, K. Proffitt, M. Hebblewhite, M. Kauffman, B. Johnson, J. Bissonette, C. Bishop, J. Gude, K. Hersey, M. Hurley, P. Lukacs, S. McCorquodale, E. McIntire, J. Nowak, D. Smith, and P.J. White. 2013. Relative influence of human harvest, carnivores, and weather on adult female elk survival across western North America. Journal of Applied Ecology 50:295-305.
]]>Study Area
Vicinity of Dove Creek, Colorado
Project Status
Completed
Research Objectives
Project Description
Elk and mule deer provide important recreational, ecological, and economic benefits, but they can also cause substantial damage to crops in rural areas. Crop damage caused by elk and deer accounts for a majority of the state's wildlife damage claims, which Colorado Parks and Wildlife is obligated to pay.
In particular, the sunflower fields around Dove Creek have experienced high rates of damage from elk and deer. Between 2007 and 2009, CPW paid farmers in the region roughly a quarter of a million dollars annually and routinely allocated kill permits, distribution hunts and private land only doe/cow hunts to eliminate animals causing damage. Pressure from local growers over crop damage and frustration from the general public over kill permits prompted CPW to evaluate other management options for reducing crop damage caused by elk and deer.
As a result, CPW partnered with wildlife damage researchers from the USDA National Wildlife Research Center to test various non-lethal solutions to reduce crop damage. Such techniques include polyrope electric fencing, winged fencing, and an organic repellent. In addition, researchers are tracking deer and elk movement patterns using GPS collars. The data will be used to identify distribution and migration patterns so that public hunts can be designed that target those elk and deer causing conflicts with farmers. In addition, deer and elk location data will be used to model damage potential in relation to field locations, surrounding habitat types, human development, and topography. Information about the location of a crop field in the context of the overall landscape will allow CPW to work with local growers to identify appropriate management strategies to reduce game damage.
Results from this study should enable CPW and local growers to reduce deer and elk crop depredation, leading to a decrease in compensation payments, a decrease in kill permits/distribution hunts, and an increase in public hunting opportunities.
Reports
Evaluating solutions to reduce elk and mule deer damage on agricultural reources (2010-2013)
Associated Publications
Johnson, H.E., J.W. Fischer, M. Hammond, P.D. Dorsey, C. Anderson Jr., and K.C. VerCauteren. 2014. Evaluation of techniques to reduce deer and elk damage to agricultural crops. Wildlife Society Bulletin 38:358-365. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.408]]>Current Elk Research Projects:
Black bears are the largest carnivores in the state. Due to environmental changes and residential expansion, encounters and conflict between humans and black bears are increasing in Colorado and across the country. A thorough understanding of the relationship between conflict rates, bear behavior and population dynamics will assist wildlife agencies in successfully reducing conflicts through management.
Black Bear Research Projects:
]]>Study Area
USFS land in Colorado
Project Status
Ongoing
Research Objectives
To assess impacts of common forest management techniques on snowshoe hare density in both lodgepole pine and spruce-fir systems in Colorado.
Project Description
Understanding and monitoring snowshoe hare density in Colorado is important because hares comprise 70% of the diet of the state-endangered, federally threatened Canada lynx. Forest management is an important driver of snowshoe hare density, and all National Forests in Colorado are required to include management direction aimed at conservation of Canada lynx and snowshoe hare. At the same time, Forests in the Region are compelled to meet timber production and management response obligations. Such activities may depress snowshoe hare density, improve it, or have mixed effects dependent on the specific activity and the time elapsed since that activity was initiated.
Associated Publications
Ivan, J. S. and E. Newkirk. 2019. Influence of forest management on snowshoe hare density in lodgepole and spruce-fir systems in Colorado. Pages 2-4 in Wildlife Research Report, Mammals Research Program, Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, Fort Collins, CO. 48 pages.
]]>Snowshoe Hare Research Projects:
]]>Bark Beetle Research Projects:
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