Cougars, who once ranged from coast to coast, are now found in only 16 states and are considered endangered in Florida. Their numbers have been decimated by trapping, trophy hunting and habitat loss.Photo by Thomas D. Mangelsen/www.mangelsen.com

New Mexico will no longer allow trophy hunters to prey upon its cougars with cruel snares and leghold traps. The State Game Commission just now voted to pass a proposal that would end all recreational trapping of these majestic animals, as well as limit trophy hunters to no more than two cougars each hunting season, instead of the previous limit of four cats.

This decision follows four years of a legal and grassroots battle that the Humane Society of the United States and our allies have waged in New Mexico to end the persecution of cougars. In 2015, after the…