As a retired wildlife biologist, I'm with RPr in this sentiment. Our collective capitulation as sportsmen and even game managers, of just 'going along to get along' has gotten us virtually nowhere with today's 'modern man'.
Out here in Montana, for the first time, we have an international wildlife organization called Big Animal, Inc. I believe, petitioning our Fish & Game folks to abandon all lion hunting in our state. They claim that pursuing them as sport actually makes them "fiercer" and "a greater liability to the general public", according to the NPR news blurb I heard a few weeks ago. Hopefully our MDFWP will be wise enough to resist this challenge.
Never mind that we have one of the healthier, hunted mountain lion populations in the Intermountain west without the levels of human conflict being experienced in those states that do ban the hunting of them, e. g. Kalifornia. Never mind that a regional wolf biologist, tells some folks, off-the-record of course, that they should shoot in the direction of a threatening gray wolf (while taking care to not hit it) as it will actually begin to put some fear in them of we humans.
Such nonsense boggles my mind to where these cats are almost welcome to a few human meals snatched from say, a PETA rally, if we as a race continue to 'dumb-down'as we are doing. Hell, I'll even help em'! Remember that just as long as people are being fed this crap by today's media, we really can't hold out for much hope in the way of sound wildlife management.
Sorry for the rant,
Rob
