Mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are the largest big cat native to North America with high concentrations in the Northwest.
In 1900 there were 200,000 mountain lions, now there are about 20,000. The argument by hunters is that mountain lions are dangerous predators that live among us and must be hunted down and killed because they attack and kill people.
California leads the nation in documented encounters and injuries, largely due to a human population expanding into mountain lion habitats. Colorado ranks second with an average of one attack per year since 1990. Other states like Washington, Arizona, Montana and Texas also report a lesser number of incidents. Overall, however, mountain lion attacks are exceedingly rare in North America.
Having a person attacked by a mountain lion is tragic but it is also preventable. Most incidents happen when hikers, runners, or cyclists move quickly through remote areas, which can trigger the animal’s chase instinct. The attack will always be featured in the local news and, in most cases, the local response is to hunt down and kill the lion. What is rarely discussed, however, is the very low level of the actual threat, and the often extreme response by the local community.
In the last 150 years 29 people have been killed in North America by a mountain lion. In the same period of time people have reduced the mountain lion population by 180,000. Mountain lions continue to be killed at the rate of 2,500 per year. Some are killed by poison or leg traps, others are shot outright, but most die as a result of organized hunts.
For hunters eager for a big cat trophy but cannot afford the $30,000 trip to Africa to get a lion, they can hire an outfitter. In the Northwest, for $10,000 the outfitter will put you up in a lodge with a mountain lion hunting license, a snowmobile, a pack of dogs trained to hunt down and tree a mountain lion, a guide, and an automatic weapon. Treeing a lion is a cruel practice that entails using a pack of dogs trained to chase the mountain lion into the woods where it will climb a tree to avoid being killed by the dogs, and is then an easy target for the hunter to shoot out of the tree. You also get your picture taken, and the mountain lion is sent to a taxidermist to be stuffed and shipped to your house.
Hunting mountain lions has become a big business with revenue to the outfitters in excess of ten million dollars a year. The best months to hunt are September to February, with snow on the ground so the mountain lion can be easily tracked. Some outfitters claim an 80-percent success rate for mountain lion hunts. Needless to say, mountain lion hunts are highly controversial and politically charged. For example, in November 2024, Colorado voters rejected a ballot initiative to ban the hunting of mountain lions. The initiative also covered bobcats and lynx.
Usually, the byproduct of a successful hunt is orphaned cubs left to die in the wilderness. In some cases, they find their way out and local people take them in and call for help, but many do not survive.
Tigers in America is opposed to mountain lion or any other animal trophy hunting.
We were happy to fund the relocation of the cubs pictured above from Washington State to their new home in a sanctuary in the Eastern United States.