Protect Wild Cats from Trophy Hunting

Colorado Residents Seek to End Cruel and Inhumane Practices toward Mountain Lions

African Lioness

I am often in sacred places—canyons in Utah, the desert of Arizona, and the high country in Colorado. Unfortunately, sometimes, men with shotguns appear, not ordinary hunters in pursuit of food but trophy hunters who use cruel practices to entrap and kill mountain lions. Each time I see them, my body gets tight, my chest aches, my eyes water, and I pray the lions can escape.

Recently, I learned trophy hunting is the number one cause of death for mountain lions and bobcats in Colorado and across the Western U.S. In Colorado, 2,500 mountain lions and bobcats are killed yearly for nothing more than a trophy or to sell their fur. But now, we can take action to help protect them!

I joined the CAT (Cats Aren’t Trophies) campaign in late May and began walking the Mancos and Cortez, Colorado sidewalks, gathering signatures for Initiative 91. If enough people vote yes to Initiative 91 on the November 2024 Colorado ballot, trophy hunting and trapping Colorado’s mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx will be banned. First, however, we must gather enough verifiable signatures—about 125,000—from registered Colorado voters by July 3rd to get Initiative 91 on the November ballot. We need thousands more signatures in the next two weeks. Please consider registering as a volunteer signature gatherer and help us find more recruits.

Trophy hunters brutally kill about 500 mountain lions annually in Colorado, often using hounds to chase a lion until the exhausted animal is cornered or treed and then shot and killed at close range. Trophy hunting kills about 2,000 bobcats each year in Colorado, often using live traps to bait Bobcats, meaning they suffer in cage or box traps for hours before the hunter returns to kill them. Their furs are often sold on international markets.

Statewide surveys show that most Coloradans, including a majority of hunters and livestock operators, oppose the trophy hunting of mountain lions and bobcats. A 2019 survey sponsored by a pro-hunting group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, found that most Westerners do not support the trapping of wildlife for recreation, fur, or profit. “Using dogs to chase a mountain lion to exhaustion and then shooting the cornered animal as it cowers in a tree is a serious violation of fair chase principles,” wrote Brett Ochs in his article in Colorado Politics. “Trapping is likewise a dirty and underhanded method that involves bludgeoning the bobcat to death…”

The momentum CATS has begun is angering trophy hunters and fur trappers. They are giving speeches that misrepresent Initiative 91, saying it aims to disarm Colorado and end all hunting. Trophy Hunter Dan Gates has attracted tens of thousands of dollars from Safari Club International and other groups to fight against Initiative 91. One trophy hunter posed as a petition circulator and stole petitions, even though sabotaging efforts to gather petitions was illegal.

California banned mountain lion trophy hunting three decades ago. Yet, trophy hunting is still allowed in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Texas, and in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Puma’s are also hunted in Mexico and Argentina. Some countries, like Costa Rica, Kenya, Malawi, and India, have banned all trophy hunting. Yet, trophy hunting is still strong in many countries, like Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, and Namibia.

I’ll be on the streets this weekend gathering more signatures. Maybe I’ll see you there. I couldn’t protect the mountain lions I encountered in the wilderness. But now, we all have the power to protect mountain lions, bobcats, and lynx from the brutality of trophy hunting and trapping and help support the health of ecosystems in Colorado. Our actions in Colorado can help other states and countries make a similar choice.

Trophy hunting harms entire ecosystems, other wildlife, and habitats. Mountain lion and bobcat kittens are left to die when they lose their mother and often die from starvation, dehydration, and predation. If they survive, they lack the skills to fend for themselves and may end up in human communities or livestock searching for food.

Nature has given us so much. She deserves our whole-hearted protection. We can love nature by acting on her behalf. Everything is at stake for the lions, the bobcats, and the lynx. The future of our kittens and cats lies in our hands.

If you are new, WELCOME! I’m Rebecca Wildbear, soul guide and author of Wild Yoga: A Practice of Initiation, Veneration, & Advocacy for the Earth. My newsletter, Radical Dreaming, invites readers to listen to their bodies, nature, and dreams while unveiling power imbalances and other root causes of ecocide.

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