An Arizona anti-hunting group has filed paperwork to begin collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would take management of bobcat and mountain lion populations out of the hands of the state wildlife agency.
So-called “Arizonans for Wildlife,” with the backing of other several other anti-hunting extremist organizations, will have until July 2018 to gather 150,642 valid signatures to place the initiative, which would ban bobcat and mountain lion hunting, on the November 2018 ballot.
Currently in Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) manages wildlife populations using a science based, comprehensive game management plan to ensure predator populations, including mountain lions and bobcats, are kept at healthy population levels. Maintaining predator populations at their objective management levels through well-regulated harvests also ensures their prey populations, such as deer, bighorn sheep and antelope are kept at robust levels.
