California Mountain Lion

California Wildlife Protection Coalition

Trophy Hunting of Mountain Lions: A History of Deception

Between 1916 and 1971, more than 12,000 mountain lions were killed for bounties and for sport in California. It was common to hear tall tales about the prowess of hunters who single-handedly brought down a wild cougar. After all, the evidence was hanging on the wall above the rifle rack, where a taxidermist had twisted the face of a mountain lion into a final vicious snarl. The rest of the arsenal was not on display: the steel-jawed leg hold traps, snares, poison, the hired tracker and his pack of dogs. It was just a little deception.

During this same period, Californians were gaining a greater understanding about the value of wildlife. In 1922, as the bear flag flew over the Capitol, the last California grizzly bear was shot. It became very clear that California's cougars were destined to endure the same fate.

Twenty-five years ago, experts estimated that as few as 600 mountain lions had survived the state's management practices. Governor Ronald Reagan became convinced that a moratorium on hunting mountain lions was necessary to protect California's last cougars from extinction. In 1971, he signed a moratorium against trophy hunting of mountain lions.

Fifteen years later, in 1985, the legislature was still convinced of the value of protecting California's cougars, and passed legislation that would have extended the moratorium on trophy hunting while biologists measured the lion population in California. Governor Deukmejian vetoed the bill. When the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) tried to open a lion hunting season, citizen groups blocked the hunt in court, where a judge held that the department had not adequately assessed the lion population before deciding that there were huntable numbers.

For some people, the numbers that matter are the dollars and votes. The National Rifle Association (NRA) and Safari Club lobbied relentlessly to lift the moratorium and allow the trophy hunting of mountain lions. Over the years, DFG gained money and influence by selling permits to hunt bears, bobcats, and bighorn sheep. Wealthy trophy hunters, many from out of state, will pay for the pleasure of shooting a lion.

And in the past five years, the political clout of the NRA and the trophy hunters has increased, along with their ability to influence the media, and the dollars they can raise and spend on partisan campaigns. It finally became clear that the people of California needed to send a clear message to their elected and appointed officials that trophy hunting of mountain lions is a cruel and inhumane way to manage lion populations. In 1990 people across the state collected more than 700,000 signatures to qualify a ballot initiative, Proposition 117, that would permanently ban the trophy hunting of mountain lions in California. Proposition 117 addressed concerns about public safety, charging the Department of Fish and Game to remove or take any mountain lion, or authorize an appropriate local agency with public safety responsibilities to remove or take any mountain lion that is perceived to be an imminent threat to public health or safety. The measure was passed by the voters in June of 1990.

Since then, the Department of Fish and Game has been derelict in its duty to manage mountain lions to protect public safety. DFG officials have said that they currently have the ability to reduce mountain lion population density in a specific geographical area, and to reduce the number of encounters between lions and humans. But the Department of Fish and Game has decided not to do its job of protecting the public. Instead, they have focused on creating a climate of fear in order to reopen a trophy hunting season on mountain lions.

For example, DFG keeps a count of dangerous incidents that requires only a telephone call to report. When questioned at a recent Senate hearing, DFG admitted that they could confirm only a small fraction of the reported lion incidents. There is no confirmation process following the call, but each call becomes a part of the statistics you hear on the evening news, and which are used by lobbyists and legislators to support a trophy hunting season. Even DFG's own experts admitted that trophy hunting of lions public safety will not improve.

Recently

Proposition 197, defeated March 1996, was a sham. In a classic example of bureaucratic jargon and deception, the word "hunter" was removed from the legislation and replaced with the word "designee." The NRA and the Safari Club lobbied Proposition 197 through the legislature. Without collecting a single voter signature, and hiding behind a disingenuous concern for public safety, trophy hunters have persuaded the politicians to rescind the ban on trophy hunting of mountain lions.

The efforts to have sport hunting of mountain lions in California have been a history of deeper and deeper deception. But even with the arsenal the NRA can bring to bear, California voters oppose for sport. Trophy hunting of mountain lions is an inhumane, and inappropriate method for managing their populations. Trophy hunting of mountain lions does not protect the public safety.

Back to California Mountain Lion Page.

California Wildlife Protection Coalition. Last updated 18 December 1995

http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ca/mountain-lion/history.html