R657-10-20. Livestock Depredation and Human Health and Safety

(1) If a cougar is harassing, chasing, disturbing, harming, attacking or killing livestock, or has committed such an act within the past 96 hours: (a) in depredation cases, the livestock owner, an immediate family member or an employee of the owner on a regular payroll, and not hired specifically to take cougar, may kill the cougar; (b) a landowner or livestock owner may notify the division of the depredation or human health and safety concerns, who shall authorize a local hunter to take the offending cougar or notify a state trapper with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) specialist; or (c) the livestock owner may notify a state trapper who may take the depredating cougar. (2) Depredating cougar may be taken at any time by a state trapper, supervised by the Predator Control Program, while acting in the performance of the person's assigned duties and in accordance with procedures approved by the division. (3)(a) A depredating cougar may be taken by those persons authorized in Subsection (1)(a) with: (i) any weapon authorized for taking cougar; or (ii) with the use of traps or snares (4)(a) Any cougar taken under Subsection (1)(a) or (4)(a) shall remain the property of the state and must be reported to a division office or employee within 96 hours. (b) The division may issue a cougar damage permit to a person who has killed a depredating cougar under Subsection (1)(a) that authorizes the person to keep the carcass. (c) A person that takes a cougar under Subsection (1)(a) or (4)(a) may acquire and use a hunting or combination license in the same year.