If passed by voters this November, a new law would ban the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats in Colorado.
Late last month, Initiative 91 qualified for Colorado’s upcoming general election ballot, supported by the signatures of 180,000 registered voters. The state requires at least 124,200 valid signatures for an initiative to secure a spot on the ballot. The ballot measure calls for the banning of big cat hunting statewide. It makes exceptions for the killing of nuisance wildcats or in the case of self defense.
“The voters of Colorado find and declare that any trophy hunting of mountain lions, bobcats or lynx is inhumane, serves no socially acceptable or ecologically beneficial purpose, and fails to further public safety,” the proposed initiative reads. “Trophy hunting is practiced primarily for the display of an animal’s head, fur or other body parts, rather than for utilization of the meat. Moreover, it is almost always conducted by unsporting means, including, but not limited to, using dogs with electronic devices to pursue and entrap affected animals in places from which they cannot escape in order to achieve the kill.”
The signatures were delivered by the Cats Aren’t Trophies (CAT) Coalition and supported by a large number of animal welfare and wildlife conservation organizations across the West. Those in favor of Initiative 91 want to put an end to the “cruel and inhumane trophy hunting of mountain lions and the commercial fur-trapping of bobcats.” The initiative also calls for the ban of lynx hunting, but the endangered cats are already protected by state and federal law.
Initiative 91, which will appear on ballots in November, follows several failed attempts to ban the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats through both the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission — the citizen board, appointed by the governor, which sets regulations and policies for Colorado’s state parks and wildlife programs — and the state legislature. Looking beyond Colorado, California is the only state where voters have banned mountain lion hunting.
Over the past few years, Colorado has been in the hot seat when it comes to what has been coined as “ballot box biology.” This occurs when voters are given the power to influence wildlife management. The most recent example is Proposition 114, the voter-led initiative to reintroduce gray wolves to Colorado’s Western Slope. Many believe that ballot box biology is an intrusive step into what has historically been scientifically-grounded decision making.
“The future of Colorado’s wildlife management is at a crossroads. The underpinnings of science-based wildlife management administered by wildlife professionals may be on the ballot this November, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Gaspar Perricone, chair of the Colorado Wildlife Conservation Project, said in a press release opposing the ballot initiative.
The majority of Colorado’s mountain lion population, which is estimated to be between 3,800 and 4,400 cats, lives west of the Continental Divide in large areas that are difficult to access. Bobcats are the most common North American wild cat species in the United States with a population between 1.4 and 2.6 million. Neither species is threatened.
Colorado began reintroducing lynx — which had disappeared from Colorado due to trapping, poisoning and loss of habitat — to the San Juan Mountains in 1999. Hunting and trapping is prohibited. Their current population is estimated at 150-250 cats.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), managing lions and bobcats with hunting is one tool used to maintain stable big game populations, such as elk. The annual statewide mountain lion harvest has averaged roughly 500 lions over the past three years, and 880 bobcats. Hunting limits and season lengths are set and adjusted to ensure lion and bobcat populations are not decreasing.
For example, the Parks and Wildlife Commission removed April from the 2024 lion hunting season and voted to prohibit the electronic animal calls some hunters use to lure lions. This came after wildlife advocates worried about the number of female cats hunted during the first month of the season.
CPW started managing mountain lions as a big game species in 1965. By law, hunters are required to prepare lions for human consumption and present the head and hide of the wild cats for mandatory checks. This applies to all big game species. The mandatory checks allow the agency to collect biological data and place a seal on each animal to make possession legal.
Mountain lion tags cost $60 for Colorado residents, and $500 for non-residents. CPW has sold an average of 2,500 mountain lion licenses per year since 2020, with annual revenue of just under $300,000.
Although only about 40 of Colorado’s 960 wildlife species are huntable, the millions of dollars generated by hunting license fees contribute to the conservation of all wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. The money also pays for education and law enforcement throughout the state.
Because it is a state agency, CPW cannot take a position for or against Initiative 91. But many Western Slope organizations have expressed their concern about the initiative, including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Gunnison Wildlife Association (GWA).
One of the largest downsides of the proposed law is that it takes away trained wildlife experts' ability to make management decisions, said Will Shoemaker, a GWA board member.
“Doing away with the hunting of one species in particular, or a couple of different species, has the potential to affect all of these other aspects of wildlife management that we don't often think about on the surface. … While I am not a mountain lion or bobcat hunter, I certainly recognize that traditional wildlife uses [like hunting] are deeply rooted in our Colorado lifestyle, and provide ecological benefits and cultural connections,” Shoemaker said.
(Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
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