Help Protect the New Mexico Cougar

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (Game & Fish) proposes to wage war on the State's cougars (a.k.a. mountain lions, pumas, or catamounts) by increasing the quotas on breeding females. That means it will quickly devastate these majestic cats and orphan numerous kittens who will then perish from starvation.

Game & Fish wants to move to a four-year decision-making cycle that would effectively cut out the public and even the Game Commission--the rule-making body that oversees the Agency--from the process. Game & Fish seeks to limit the public's right to object to radical quota increases by restricting access to the rulemaking process. New Mexico's cougars could very well be wiped out before our right to defend them comes around them again in four years' time.

Killing cougars will not make people or livestock safer, nor create more deer, elk, or bighorn sheep for hunters. The Agency's proposal focuses heavily on female cougars, and that means it will quickly devastate these majestic cats and orphan numerous kittens who will then perish from starvation. Based on fear, this proposal fails to use the best information available about how to effectively manage for a sustainable cougar population.

We ask the New Mexico Game Commission to reject increased quotas on females.