Page 4 - SDWF Out of Doors

Out of Doors 4 May - July 2023
dangeRous wIld anImals encRoacHIng on soutH dakota neIgHboRHoods
June 5, 2023
SPEARFISH, S.D. – Holly Hansen doesn’t
have hard data to prove that potentially
dangerous wild animals are entering
residential areas with greater frequency,
but she does have some pretty strong
anecdotal evidence.
In early May, a black bear entered her
suburban Spearfish property and killed
16 ducks, chickens and turkeys, she said.
Large paw prints in the mud and two piles
of bear scat provided evidence of the
daytime intruder’s identity.
On May 23, an adult mountain lion was A mountain lion climbed a tree in a residential area
hunkered down in a tree at a home on in Spearfish in May, near two schools and two parks.
Wyoming Court, well within Spearfish (Photo: Spearfish Police Department)
city limits and not far from two schools, a
recreation center and two parks. State game officers tranquilized the lion
and safely relocated it before any people were endangered. However,
the property owner posted a note on social media indicating that her
children likely walked beneath the big cat, whose method of killing
animals can include an ambush from a tree limb overhead.
Also in May, a resident near Whitewood, between Spearfish and Sturgis,
reported that a suspected mountain lion had killed a foal found dead on
her ranch, according to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.
Those incidents came amid numerous other wild animal sightings
reported in residential areas across South Dakota. Among them: a
mountain lion photographed on a street in west Rapid City in March and
an encounter at Sertoma Park in Sioux Falls in May where a woman
walking her dogs had to carry the canines and run from two coyotes that
chased her.
“If they’re coming into town and they’re comfortable, that’s a different
level of concern,” said Hansen, who has had mountain lions, coyotes,
skunks and now a bear visit her Spearfish property, though only the
bear attacked animals. “If they’re in your stuff, tearing animals apart and
eating them, it’s a dangerous situation.”
Report of mountain lion above kids concerning, official says
Some wildlife interactions in residential areas are to be expected in
South Dakota, where numerous cities border the Black Hills National
Forest and other animal habitats.
This paw print found on the property of Holly Hansen of Spearfish
measures nearly five inches across and is believed to be that of a black
bear that barged into her property and ate more than a dozen farm fowl.
(Photo: Courtesy Holly Hansen)
But the lion removed from Spearfish in May should increase concerns
about future interactions with humans, said Terry Mayes, a vice president
of the South Dakota Wildlife Federation.
“He wasn’t up there to sleep overnight because that is their normal prey
activity,” Mayes said. “They ambush from a branch above, and that’s
how they get their major kills, including deer and elk. They disable it
and eat that animal pretty much entirely, so there’s a potential for an
encounter that could be very bad.”
Officials from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks
— the agency tasked with responding to wild animal encounters — were
unwilling to answer questions about the frequency and potential risks of
wild animals encroaching into residential areas.
Mike Apland, a GFP supervisor in Spearfish, did not return calls or a text
message seeking comment from News Watch.
GFP spokesperson Nick Harrington declined to answer questions about
By: Bart Pfankuch
the topic or arrange an interview for News Watch
despite numerous email and phone requests.
Animal encounters a global issue
Expanding research into wildlife habitat and
human encounters reveals a consistent theme.
Encroachment of urban life into animal habitat
across the world is increasing. As a result, so are
human-animal interactions.
A 2019 study by Colorado State University
researchers found that housing and other
development had intruded on protected wildlife
areas and could reduce them by as much as 12%
by 2030.
As urban areas across the world continue to expand,
they increasingly shrink habitat for wild animals.
The greater interface between wild animals and residential and developed
areas leads to a change in how wild animals behave. It makes them
even more likely to brush up against unsuspecting humans, according
to a 2020 review of 83 wildlife studies published in the journal Frontiers
in Ecology and Evolution.
That study concluded that 9 in 10 wild animals adapted to their new
urban habitat by changing their diets to include more human foods. They
also reduced their range of movement. Both changes could make them
more likely to enter or even reside entirely in urban areas.
A July 2020 National Geographic article examined the rising incidence
of wildlife in urban areas. It included a map showing how one collared
coyote in 2014 had a den atop a parking garage in Chicago and traveled
along elevated train tracks and other urban corridors from Michigan
Avenue downtown and several miles along Lake Michigan to the city’s
south side.
The mountain lion that Spearfish police tranquilized in May after it
wandered into a residential area. (Photo: Spearfish Police Department)
Increased interactions bad for people and animals
The increasing interface between wild animals and humans in non-wild
areas is not good for either side of the equation. But it’s far worse for the
animals who find themselves in unfamiliar settings and subject to car
accidents or euthanization, said Megan Howell, executive director of the
non-profit South Dakota Wildlife Federation.
“I think it’s harder on the animals for sure because they don’t have the
habitat they need. And they’re put in a situation where they don’t have
malicious intent, they’re just subject to new situations,” she said. “And in
those situations, we do need to keep humans safe.”
While feeding habits, a change in availability of food or water or illness
can lead wild animals into residential areas, the biggest reason for
increasing human interactions is loss of habitat for animals across South
Dakota and the world, Howell said.
“We’ve lost so much habitat. And not only that, but it’s more fragmented,
so the habitat isn’t in big chunks, which is what most wildlife needs to
thrive,” Howell said. “When they lose their habitat, that’s when we have
more interactions.”
Small steps to possible improvement
Farmers and urban planners can improve practices to maintain animal
habitat and provide buffers between wild areas and residential or crop
lands, Howell said.
Public education can help residents maintain suburban or rural properties
in ways that reduce animal interactions.
And government and environmental groups can continue to seek money