See The Latest Info About Colorado Ending Trophy Hunting

The group behind "Cats Aren't Trophies" has collected enough signatures to get the topic of big cat hunting for trophies on the general election ballot in Colorado this November.

Many support Cats Aren't Trophies, a campaign to stop big cat hunting. One of the activists leading the way is the CEO of Big Cat Rescue, Caorle Baskins, who was also featured on the Netflix series Tiger King.

If the measure passes, trophy hunting for mountain lions and trapping bobcats in Colorado will end.

The CATs measure makes clear the difference between unsporting and cruel fringe hunting for fur and heads, maintaining best practices for professional management of wildlife. The measure is precise, addressing sport hunting alone, while maintaining full authority to Colorado Parks and Wildlife to manage infrequent individual mountain lions posing a verified threat to public safety or to domestic animals, including livestock and pets

In the press release, Mickey Pardo, a wildlife biologist from Fort Collins, explains why she thinks passing the measure is important.

As a wildlife ecologist, I can tell you that the science is clear that sport hunting of mountain lions is an ineffective means of mitigating human-lion conflict. If anything, sport hunting only makes conflict worse by disproportionately removing older males and creating a vacuum that is filled by younger, inexperienced males who are more prone to conflict with humans and domesticated animals

Not everyone supports the Cats Aren't Trophies campaign. The leading organization pushing back is Safari Club International.

Safari Club International chapters including in Colorado remain top funders of the opposition campaign. Safari Club has long been known to exist purely to promote trophy hunting in Africa and North America. Its members travel just to slay the world’s most beautiful and rare animals for their heads.

Safari Club has more than 30 “hunting achievement awards” that incentivize killing animals to adorn their dens and private museums with trophies. To receive the “Cats of the World” award, a member is required to slay a mountain lion or puma, African lion, African cheetah, African leopard, and a Canada or Eurasian lynx.

The measure will be on the November 5th general voting ballot in Colorado.