Colorado voters reject ban on hunting mountain lions, bobcats and lynx

A Canadian lynx on the run in Colorado.

Colorado voters on Tuesday rejected a grassroots ballot initiative that would have banned the hunting and trapping of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx.

The Associated Press called the Proposition 127 race at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, when resulted showed 55.5% opposed and 45.5% in favor. The measure was backed by the group Cats Aren’t Trophies.

Under the measure, a person who hunted any of the newly protected species would have been charged with a misdemeanor and faced jail time, fines or the revocation of hunting licenses.

Cats Aren’t Trophies placed its measure on the 2024 ballot through a signature-gathering campaign after years of unsuccessfully lobbying the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to enact a similar trophy hunting ban.

An average of 500 mountain lions are killed in Colorado annually during a winter hunting season managed by state wildlife officials. Activists have long criticized mountain lion hunts as a cruel practice facilitated by outfitters who “advertise an unsporting, guaranteed kill” using electronic calls and GPS technology, during which the animals are typically cornered in trees by packs of hounds and then shot by hunters at close range.

An average of 880 bobcats are trapped for their furs in Colorado each year. The hunting or trapping of lynx, a federally protected species, is already prohibited under state and federal law.

Proposition 127 was opposed by hunting and trapping advocates including the Sportsmen’s Alliance, which calls the ban the work of “animal extremists.” Opponents said a ban on hunting mountain lions would cause deer and elk populations to decline, a claim that the measure’s supporters said isn’t backed by science.

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on Colorado Newsline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and X.