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Join our campaign
to help us pass 127, finally putting an end to this unsporting, inhumane activity
VOTE YES ON 127!
to stop cruel, unsporting killing of lions and bobcats for their heads and beautiful coats
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Every donation will help us stand up to trophy hunters and commercial trappers and usher in a new statewide policy to protect our big cats from extreme cruelty!
Stop cruel, unsporting trophy hunting
Indiscriminate killing of predators who are not causing any problems is unwarranted and destabilizes the peaceful coexistence between humans, domestic animals and predators. The science tells us that when you randomly kill mountain lions, you artificially skew populations, create social chaos and open the door for younger animals with lesser hunting skills who are more likely to get into conflict.
Big Cats Bring Balance
Mountain lions, bobcats and lynx are not only beautiful animals, they bring ecological benefits to Colorado, including keeping deer herds healthy from deadly neurological chronic wasting disease and nurturing biodiversity and ecosystem health in the wake of climate change. Mountain lions reduce vehicle collisions with deer.
No killing bobcats for pelts for China
Bobcats are chased by hounds, or live trapped, then killed on site by trappers who want to make a buck by selling their fur.
Potential body count of mountain lions and bobcats killed each year by trophy hunters and trappers
Trophy hunting is inhumane, unfair
Dogs fitted with GPS technology on their collars chase and attack lions and bobcats during a long pursuit. Using the tracking equipment, the trophy hunter walks up to the site where the dogs are barking at a cat who fled into a tree. He then shoots the animal at point-blank range, like shooting an animal in a cage at a zoo. Trophy hunting orphans kittens, with females accounting for nearly half of the lions killed for trophies. The orphans are typically doomed, untrained in killing prey and unable to fend for themselves.
It’s not a tool for public safety, or to protect domestic animals, or to increase deer and elk for fair-chase hunters. But it does increase risk to domestic animals, including farm animals and pets. It doesn’t conserve anything, because lion hunting contributes a tiny drop in the bucket (0.1%) to our state’s wildlife operations budget.
Trophy hunting and trapping wild cats in Colorado is not ‘managing’ wildlife. It's separate from professional management for conflict, and we already have separate and distinct, and well-funded state and federal programs for that. Each year, about 60 mountain lions are killed for conflicts by wildlife, agriculture, and law enforcement experts. This is not trophy hunting, which targets random older, mature mountain lions for personal pleasure, and flies in the face of peaceful coexistence with humans and valuable wildlife belonging to all Coloradans.
