Dolan: We need to change the narrative about mountain lions

A recent column in the Vail Daily, written by three former Colorado Parks and Wildlife employees, was highly critical of Prop 127 supporters. The authors characterized my fellow wildlife advocates as “well-funded, out-of-state, radical anti-hunting groups” who created “bizarrely twisted storylines in vain attempts to appeal to the mainstream and level-headed voters in Colorado.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. The serious dollars and funding opposing Prop 127 came from two DC- based hunting groups — Building America’s Future, a super PAC, and the Concord Fund. In contrast, our state-wide Colorado coalition of wildlife experts, a national organization, and local advocates, supported by over 1,000 donors, gathered all those signatures in an attempt to reform the state’s cruel wild cat hunting practices.

We were driven to act by the compelling science and an ongoing unwillingness of Colorado Parks and Wildlife to stand up to the tiny numbers of people profiting from lion hunting. We are not anti-hunting. Like many coalition members, I am a conservation professional and believe hunting can have an important role in controlling disease and needless suffering for ungulate populations.

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However, science clearly shows mountain lions are critical to ecosystem health — the species has biotic relationships with nearly 500 other species. It also shows that mountain lions and bobcats help control the spread of chronic wasting disease. Furthermore, the science shows that mountain lion populations are self-regulating — that nature, not trophy hunting, takes care of healthy lion populations.

In addition, science generally suggests that the hunting of mountain lions creates social disruption and territorial disputes, which may lead to more conflicts with humans and their domestic animals.

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Far from being a “twisted storyline,” this peer-reviewed science should steer us away from the use of hunting to control mountain lion populations. Colorado’s mountain lions are already threatened by roads, climate change, rodenticide poisoning, and a litany of other threats: the needless killing of over 500 lions each year could jeopardize the long-term health and sustainability of their numbers.

And wolves pose a new threat to Colorado’s mountain lions. Indeed, a 2024 study by Mark Elbroch in the Tetons found mountain lion numbers declined by 48 percent when wolves were reintroduced and concludes: “When hunting is used as a management tool on subordinate predators in systems with other apex predators, population declines can happen quickly.”

I respect and appreciate Parks and Wildlife’s many years of excellent work on moose, otters, and other wildlife as well as its management of the state’s bountiful recreation areas. However, the agency is simply not keeping up with the science and with the pro-wildlife shifts in public opinion. The state’s hunters and sportsmen have too much sway at the agency.

As a result, its policies are outdated — wildlife advocates had to go to the ballot box to initiate needed changes. A 2024 study titled “Public Perspectives on hunting mountain lions and black bears in Colorado” shows: 77.9% of Colorado citizens disapprove of hunting mountain lions for trophies, 80.6% of citizens disapprove of hunting mountain lions for a hide or fur and 88.2% of citizens disapprove of hunting mountain lions using dogs.

Furthermore, a 2023 study of Eagle County residents by Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff shows 84 percent of mail survey respondents agreed that sustaining local wildlife populations was “very important.” Social scientists have coined the term “mutualists” for the growing numbers of citizens who wish to co-exist with our wildlife. “Mutualism” is correlated with diminished support for lethal predator controls, less trust in state wildlife agencies, and declines in hunting.

Colorado has a relatively high percentage of mutualists like me who agree that we need to change the narrative about mountain lions. Researcher Dr. Mark Elbroch eschews the prevailing narrative that mountain lions are dangerous, competitive with people, and need to be controlled through hunting. We can choose to change that narrative to one of co-existence. That’s a goal every Coloradan should embrace.

Prop 127 was defeated by confusing ballot language and a misleading information advertising campaign funded by out-of-state hunters. Colorado citizens who favor the abolition of mountain lion trophy hunting with packs of dogs and of inhumane trapping of furbearing animals will continue the fight, hoping Parks and Wildlife can be persuaded to modify its outdated wild cat hunting policies.

Several wildlife experts and volunteers recently created a presentation on the science of mountain lions. We are available to speak to local groups about what we learned and how we might go forward, partnering with Parks and Wildlife to change some of the current rules. If you would like to volunteer or schedule a presentation about the magnificence and importance of mountain lions, please contact me at katie@katiedolan.net.

Katie Dolan is an Edwards-based conservationist and writer who is passionate about animals, wildlife, and nature. She is a photographer and author of a book series about wildlife issues, told from the perspective of her Newfoundland dogs. She also teaches Storytelling for Conservation at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and conducts seminars and presentations on cougars, ocean conservation, and storytelling. She holds an MA in Environmental Studies from Yale, an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, a Masters in English from the Bread Loaf School, and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.