HB 469 - Bad News for Utah's Lions

In the spring of 2023, a bill was signed into law that stripped away any meaningful protections for mountain lions in Utah. As a result, mountain lions can be hunted, trapped, and snared without limit by anyone with a general hunting license. This is unsustainable and far from the science-based management. Many Utahans were outraged by this last minute addition to HB 469 that completely changed mountain lion management in the state.

Since the passage of the law we have seen an increase in the number of mountain lions that have been injured by traps in our study area. One of the cats that we had been filming since 2019 sustained a wound where she lost a significant portion of her front right paw. We watched as she withered away over the course of the winter before she eventually disappeared completely. We've also received reports of non-target species, dogs, and mountain lion kittens being inured or killed in traps and snares set for lions. A recent report released by the Division of Wildlife Resources that showed that over 80% of the lions killed in traps were females. We know that female mountain lions spend over 80% of their adult life either pregnant or raising dependent young. Given this, it is reasonably safe to assume that kittens were left orphaned as a result. Traps and snares are indiscriminate and often injure or kill animals that are unfortunate enough to find them. While we do support science-based management, we do not support trapping or snaring of mountain lions and bobcats in Utah.

Current research shows that hunting mountain lions to save deer could likely backfire leading to unintended consequences. The study found that increasing mountain lion culling to save mule deer, "may in face exacerbate problems for mule deer by changing the age-structure of the puma population to predominantly younger animals that are more likely to hunt deer over elk."

Another study found that mountain lion hunting was positively correlated to an increase in conflicts with mountain lions.

We have a few projects in the works that we're hoping will turn things around for our Utah lions. We'll post more as soon as we can.