The number of mountain lions killed in non-hunting situations spiked last year, possibly in part due to a drop in the whitetail deer population in northwestern Montana.

But the increase in these types of lion deaths doesn't necessarily mean that the population has grown to unmanageable levels, and state officials said they'll probably only need to tweak quota numbers for the upcoming lion season. Tentative quotas will be presented April 16 to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, with a final decision slated for the June 25 meeting.

"I expect that the quotas will be up a little in some districts and down a bit in others," noted Quentin Kujala, FWP Wildlife Management Bureau chief. "We want to have a harvest rate that keeps us from going to too low of a population or too high."

Montana had a number of unusual human/lion interactions last year, including a lion that crashed through a window of a Townsend home and was shot by the resident. Game wardens theorized that the lion thought the window was a dark hole.

Lions also were seen wandering through the streets of Ennis, Virginia City and Cascade. Most of those lions were shot due to the state's zero-tolerance policy for mountain lions that kill livestock, roam through towns or show no fear of people.

Overall, 17 mountain lions were shot last year for non-hunting reasons, more than double the seven shot in 2007 and four times as many as were shot in 2006. Still, it's a far cry from 1997, when 80 mountain lions were killed in Montana for either livestock depredations or interacting with people.

That's due in a large part to an increase 10 years ago in the number of lions that could be legally killed during hunting season.

"We made a concerted effort back in the late 1990s to try to reduce the mountain lion population, mainly through higher quotas," said Mike Thompson, a FWP wildlife biologist in Region Two. "We harvested lions to a point where we felt we had lower populations than we had seen in the previous 20 years or so."

Those quotas tapered off in recent years, from a high of 868 in 1998 to 481 in 2008.

"If you look at the quota numbers from year to year, it's kind of a bell-shaped curve that peaked in 1998," Kujala said. "To my eyes and ears, the scale of complaints is not as big as when we were looking at those larger numbers of mountain lions."

In Region One near Kalispell, which reported 12 non-hunting mountain lion deaths between June and December 2008, FWP Wildlife Manager Jim Williams attributed the increase in incidents mainly to a drop in whitetail deer numbers. Most of the lions that were killed were preying on livestock.

"The last time we had a decrease in the whitetail population, after the winter of 1996-97, we had an increase in lion interactions, and I think we're seeing that again," Williams said. "At the same time, they get in trouble every year because of homes and subdivisions being built in their habitat.

"But generally speaking, as the prey goes so goes the predators. When we have a whitetail population decline, it usually leads to poor kitten survival. So there are some adjustments the population makes due to lack of prey."

No one knows exactly how many of the secretive cats roam throughout Montana, which is one reason it's difficult to set quotas. Another reason is that lions can range widely, Williams said.

"One of the challenges in recommending mountain lion seasons is that ... males tend to move around the landscape, females less so," Williams said. "So we have to look at the meta-population and the watershed, but we tend to make recommendations at the hunting district level."

Another problem with the quotas is that they're rarely filled statewide, although the quotas are met in some areas. A recent change to the quota system that resulted in limited special licenses for Region One and Two in western Montana, similar to the process for bighorn sheep, moose and goat, also is impacting the system, Kujala said.

"When we set the quotas, we figure a percentage will be filled, but now we're finding that some people are going for trophy animals and not filling the quotas," Kujala said. "So we might increase the limited licenses, but what happens if we go from a 50 percent success rate to a 100 percent success rate?

"We're trying to figure out that conundrum."

He and other wildlife managers are hoping that a new, soon-to-be-released study by FWP Wildlife Biologist Rich DeSimone will help shed some light on mountain lions.

"He's essentially completing 10-plus years of long-term (mountain lion) research in the Garnet Mountains," Williams said. "He's looking at multiple generations, their life-history matrix, litter size, density on the landscape, all sorts of things. Once we have that new science we can apply it to management issues."

FWP mountain lion meeting

Fish, Wildlife and Parks commissioners will discuss tentative mountain lion quotas at their April 16 meeting at the FWP headquarters at 1420 East Sixth. A work session on mountain lions will take place the day before, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the same location. Final quotas are expected to be set at the June 25 meeting in Helena.

Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com