Colorado group that wants to ban hunting of mountain lions, bobcats submits signatures for ballot initiative
124,238 signatures must be verified as registered Colorado voters for Initiative 91 to be placed on the ballot
Dennis Fast/VWPics via AP
Volunteers from a group seeking to ban trophy hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx submitted 180,000 signatures on Wednesday in an effort to place the question of a ban on the November ballot.
Under state law, 124,238 signatures must be verified as registered Colorado voters for Initiative 91 to be placed on the ballot. The secretary of state will have 30 days to review them.
“Today we submit signatures to give Colorado voters an opportunity to stop the inhumane, unsporting killing of mountain lions and bobcats for their heads and their beautiful coats,” said Samantha Miller, the campaign manager for Cats Aren’t Trophies, in a news release.
Initiative 91, filed in October, makes exceptions for killing the wildcats to defend a person, livestock or pets. It also makes exceptions for depredating animals and accidents, such as vehicle and animal collisions.
The initiative reads, in part: “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.”
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Those who violate the measure would be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. They could also be subject to a five-year suspension of their wildlife license.
Mountain lion hunting season, which has an annual cap set by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, is between November and March. There were 502 mountain lions killed in the 2022 to 2023 season, according to a Parks and Wildlife report.
Bobcat hunting season is from December through February. Lynx, which look similar to bobcats, are federally protected and illegal to hunt. Lynx were included in case they are ever downlisted from state or federal protections, Miller said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife will not take a position for or against the initiative, according to its website.
A 2022 bill that would have implemented a similar ban was defeated with a 4-1 vote in its first committee hearing.
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and other hunting and conservation groups opposed that bill and Initiative 91.
Opponents of the measure and initiative have argued that biologists and wildlife experts at Colorado Parks and Wildlife should be left to manage the populations and hunting permits.
“Ballot initiatives and the ballot box biology that they bring reduce complex ecological systems to soundbites and pleas to emotion,” said Ryan Bronson with Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in a news release.
While Cats Aren’t Trophies were at one point pursuing another ballot measure, Initiative 101, they’ve decided to only move forward with Initiative 91.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
