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Colorado voters will decide whether to ban hunting of bobcats, lynx and mountain lions

Aug 13, 2024 Updated Aug 14, 2024

from Colorado Politics


Photo:A bobcat.

pac9012 / iStock


proposal to ban the hunting of bobcats, lynx and mountain lions in Colorado will officially appear on the ballot this November, according to the Secretary of State's Office. 

Proposition 91, backed by a group called Cats Aren't Trophies, claims that the "trophy hunting" of these cats "serves no socially acceptable or ecologically beneficial purpose and fails to further public safety." The proposal exempts from penalties the killing of big cats in defense of human life or livestock.

Supporters of the measure argue it will protect the big cats that call Colorado home. Opponents criticized it as "ballot box biology" and contend it will do the opposite of what it intends to accomplish.

Proposition 91 defines trophy hunting as "intentionally killing, wounding, pursuing, or entrapping" a mountain lion, bobcat, or lynx.

Critics said the measure is driven by "extremists" and it threatens Colorado's "fragile ecosystem."  

“Under the current science-based management, our mountain lion and bobcat populations are thriving," said Dan Gates, who has been active in Colorado conservation efforts for over three decades. "This measure continues to be driven by out-of-state extremists who are seeking to threaten the balance of Colorado’s fragile ecosystem. This ballot measure is dangerous, reckless, and based on absolutely zero scientific research. This measure has absolutely no place in Colorado."

Gates is also the director of the Colorado Trappers & Predator Hunter's Association.

Proposition 91 is among several measures that will appear on the November the ballot.



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