Center for Biological Diversity sues Arizona Game and Fish over mountain lion hunting rules

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Commission to challenge the rules around mountain lion sport hunting.

The lawsuit asks the court to suspend issuance of mountain lion sport hunting permits until the population in Arizona has recovered and is sustainable, according to court records.

The timing of the lawsuit comes as mountain lion hunting season starts Aug. 21.

The Center for Biological Diversity is suing the AZGFDC based on data showing that 1,937 mountain lions were killed between 2018 and 2024 by hunters, and 54% of those deaths were 1- and 2-year-old mountain lions.

The felines that are younger than one year old are called kittens (518 deaths), and those younger than two years old are called pre-reproductive juveniles (519 deaths).

Additional data showed that 41% of the mountain lions hunted during that seven-year span were female, and killing more than 20% of adult females can sharply reduce the mountain lion population.

“Arizona’s state-sanctioned killing of kittens and juvenile mountain lions is barbaric, unsustainable and illegal,” Robin Silver, Center for Biological Diversity co-founder and board member, said. “State law requires the Game and Fish Commission and Department to put science and public trust first rather than the whims of the mountain lion sport hunters and ranchers.

“It’s time to end this slaughter and ensure that mountain lions will continue to roam the wilds of Arizona into the future.”

The lawsuit includes three modeling analyses, based on seven years of data, that estimate that without reducing hunting quotas (currently 340 mountain lions for the upcoming season), the population in Arizona will face a steep and unsustainable decline.

The AZGFDC acknowledges they legally hold the state’s wildlife in a public trust. The lawsuit argues the unsustainable quotas and practices violate that acknowledgment.

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