Bismarck, North Dakota News

" I don't want to hear any Americans complaining about "third world" countries, how savage they are or their lack of compassion for life. The traps used to get these animals are just as barbaric and cruel as anything an Iraqi insurgent could dish out and the vermin who lay them are deeply disturbed individuals in my opinion. I don't want to hear "its how we make a living." People who sell drugs and illegal guns say the same thing and these "trappers" are every bit as bad, in some ways, worse. "

" POOR KITTIE!!!!!!!! "

" We can say "what if" about anything in the world. The reality is that the probability for ANY individual to grow to reproductive age and successfully reproduce is relatively low. The point is that it is better, in terms of a population, to keep an individual that has already reproduced. Of course, the two kittens could have grown to successfully reproduce. However, this probability is much lower than 1 (which is the probability of the female reproducing... it has already happened!!). Therefore, the argument that the population may be in danger because of the loss of 2 kittens is just not true. It sounds cruel because kittens are cute and cuddly, but nature is not always kind. If they didn't get caught in the snares, they also very well could have been killed by other lions, died of disease, starvation, or many other very harsh realities of nature. Trust me, cougar populations are not in danger of extinction any time soon. "

" Jessica, I disagree with you. What if those 2 lions grew up to be incredibly successful and colonized new land not currently occupied by lions. What if they bred multiple times and produced successful offspring of their own. You can't discount that those 2 losses would then be minimal in the "grand scheme of things." "

" The point the biologist was making is that it would be more detrimental to the population if the reproductive female (i.e., their mother) had been killed rather than two immature kittens. Kitten survival rates are not necessarily very high, so the likelihood of each of them reaching adulthood and reproducing is much less than a female who has already reached maturity and reproduced. The female who lost these cubs, as she said, will come into estrus again soon and have another little shortly thereafter, more than likely replacing the two she lost. Therefore, regardless of the population size, the loss of 2 kittens is minimal in the grand scheme of things. "

" I find it ridiculous that a furbearer biologist can say that losing two cougar kittens won't hurt the population when they have no idea how many cougars are even living in the state.It sounds like they have more failures trapping than successes. Are we still living in the wild west?! "

" I couldn't agree with Ruth any more. No known population but minimal loss? How do we know that? "

" How can you determine that the loss of two kittens is "minimal" when there is no estimate regarding the size of the mountain lion population? Maybe there needs to be some regulations regarding setting out of leg-hold traps - a barbaric practice! What if another two kittens are trapped next month, is that still a "minimal" loss? "