Perceptions of Mountain Lions 127potential attack occurred, I had been asked to comment on the evidence. A young
lion had allegedly attacked a person who was ice fishing at Sheridan Lake, just west of
Rapid City, but officials were unable to find fresh sign attributed to a lion during a
two- day search after the attack (Watson 2008). At the time, the attack invoked much
media attention, but the fact that there was limited evidence in support of the attack
and that attacks were undocumented in the Black Hills might have helped to keep
attitudes related to the risk of attack to a minimum, despite other information made
available to the public, such as the number of lions, harvest information, and sight-
ings by residents. Furthermore, most attacks by mountain lions had involved children,
and few were fatal (Beier 1991). Nevertheless, I recall many a mother confronting me
after a pre sen ta tion on mountain lions, stating she was concerned about the safety
of her children and asking for advice on how to keep them safe when living or recre-
ating in the Black Hills.
Many South Dakota residents were, however, concerned about the impact of moun-
tain lions on game species. My interaction with a former volunteer (mentioned ear-
lier) was just an echo of comments by other hunters who regularly attended Game and
Fish Commission meetings to express their views on the need to reduce the number
of mountain lions in the Black Hills or eliminate them entirely. This view might have
been considered the rumblings of a few hunters who were unable to obtain deer per-
mits ( after years of being successful), but the sentiment was quantified by Gigliotti
(2012). His survey asked South Dakota residents to respond to the question “I am
concerned about mountain lions killing too many game animals” ( table 8.10). The
responses of residents in 2012, compared to those in 2002, shifted from some disagree-
ing with the statement to more agreement. I was able to view this more negative senti-
ment when I was invited to a Game and Fish Commission meeting in 2014 to pres ent
results from our work on mountain lions to the commissioners. The meeting was highly
attended by both those in favor of increasing the harvest limit on mountain lions and
those individuals, some of whom were members of the Black Hills Mountain Lion
Foundation, who voiced opposition to any increase in the harvest limit.
Table 8.9. Responses (2002 and 2012 surveys) to the statement “Having any mountain
lions in South Dakota is too dangerous a risk to people”
Attitude response 2002 SD residents 2012 SD residents
Strongly agree 7% 7%
Moderately agree 7% 7%
Slightly agree 11% 13%
Neutral / no opinion 13% 16%
Slightly disagree 18% 13%
Moderately disagree 20% 21%
Strongly disagree 24% 23%
Source: Gigliotti 2012.