Cats Aren’t Trophies ballot measure would ban trophy hunting and trapping of wild cats in Colorado
By Julie Marshall | Guest Commentary
PUBLISHED: September 4, 2024 at 5:15 a.m.
Voters can choose to vote “yes” to end the trophy hunting of mountain lions for their heads, and fur-trapping of bobcats to sell their beautiful fur as coats. It’s the right moral decision, for Cats Aren’t Trophies on the ballot in November.
Our coalition held a press conference Friday at The Wild Animal Sanctuary, the perfect venue, given that founder Pat Craig is renowned for saving big cats from horrific cruelty at the hands of mankind.
On this cool August morning, we saw a mountain lion, her sweet butterfly-patterned face hiding in the grass before she walked away, which is quintessential lion behavior when humans are present. We saw two lynx and a bobcat, making up all three of the wild cats that will be spared from trophy hunting and fur trapping with a “yes” vote.
Among the cats were CATs supporters: A powerful display of serious-minded voices for true wildlife conservation.
The room was silent, however, when shown raw footage of packs of dogs chasing lions and bobcats into trees, where they were shot as trophies.
Our campaign follows the journalistic virtue of “show, don’t tell” and this film shows the lion trophy hunting outfitters, who sell our wild cat as “your trophy” for upwards of $8,000 (the exact price for a lesser-maned African lion). In their own words, Colorado lion trophy hunters and fur trappers told the crowd that they were after their personal big trophy lion, a bucket list item, a thrill-kill.
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Watch the video, “This is NOT Conservation,” on YouTube.
Veterinarian, Dr. Valerie Johnson, who holds a PhD from Colorado State University, connected the dots. “Mountain lion trophy hunters of Colorado are in the same vein as the people who pay big money to go to Africa and cut the tusks off elephants, or heads off lions,” she told the crowd.
Erik Molvar spoke as a hunter, although he’s a well-published biologist in wildlife conservation.
“Hunters are like me, they subscribe to hunting ethics … Hunting for big cats is trophy hunting, pure and simple. It’s not to fill the freezer, it’s to bring home a trophy … to brag about and impress your friends,” Molvar said. “That doesn’t respect the quarry, so it doesn’t deserve any particular respect from the general public, either.”
Perhaps the most well-received voice was that of J Dallas Gudgell, an experienced environmental scientist and member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes.
“As an Indigenous person concerned with and raised in a framework of right relationship with the natural world, I find trophy hunting and egocentric activity upends nature’s natural balance,” explained Gudgell, who is Wildlife and Tribal Policy Director for the International Wildlife Coexistence Network, one of the 100 groups endorsing CATs. “I support the people’s right to participate in the Democratic process to protect wild cats from senseless use.”
Dr. Christine Capaldo, a specialist in feline medicine, spoke of the bobcat in her southwestern Colorado community who was fur-trapped and strangled to death just to sell its fur on the lucrative Chinese fur market.
“Allowing unlimited numbers of bobcats to be killed isn’t about wildlife biology or management, it’s about greed, trophies, the despicable fur trade to China, and a complete disregard for the welfare of wildlife …Colorado’s native wild cats should not ever be for sale.”
Dr. Mickey Pardo, PhD, a wildlife biologist in Fort Collins, recently featured in the New York Times and National Geographic for his work, explained,
“As a biologist, I support the CATs ballot measure to ban trophy hunting and trapping of wild cats in Colorado. The scientific evidence is clear that hunting these animals is completely unnecessary and the methods used to hunt them are exceptionally cruel.”
Deanna Meyer, born and raised in Colorado, runs a rural family farm in lion country, abutting National Forest Lands, and she will vote “yes” to CATs based on her personal experience.
“One Christmas Day two years ago, I followed the sounds, finding six dogs who treed a terrified bobcat on my land,” Meyer said. “I was infuriated when I found out that there was nothing I could do. When this initiative passes, it will end this harassment and protect lions and bobcats who aren’t causing conflicts with humans.”
Delia Malone closed the event, speaking as a West Slope field ecologist, and Wildlife Chair for the Colorado Sierra Club, which endorses CATs. She’s vice chair of Roaring Fork Audubon, which is one of six Audubon Societies of Colorado that endorses CATs as well.
“At my home in Redstone which borders roadless area, we’re lucky enough to have a cougar family that has lived in the forest above us for generations — we’ve never had a negative encounter with the cougar family,” Malone said. “Trophy killing of lions contradicts the science, it is ethically wrong and should be outlawed.”
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Every speaker at this event shows Colorado voters who we are: A vast coalition of wildlife experts, conservationists and diverse citizens, statewide including the most rural citizens living with lions, who all agree that this kind of fringe hunting for heads and fur has no place in the great state of Colorado, where we respect ethical outdoor activities, including ethical hunting of deer and elk for food.
As Pat Craig said so well: “Let’s be clear: Mountain lions and bobcats are not a food source as many callous individuals like to suggest. Instead, they are hunted solely for their heads and beautiful coats.”
Julie Marshall is the director of communications for Cats Aren’t Trophies.
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