Petition to the Nevada Board of WILDLIFE Commissioners

Date: October 8^th, 2024
To: Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners
Regarding:
Request for trapping regulations to reduce incidental trapping of mountain lions
Purpose:
Recreational trapping of mountain lions in Nevada is not permitted by law. Yet, documentation available from the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) reveals that mountain lions have, for years, been frequently trapped in Nevada, resulting in unnecessary, largely preventable pain, injury, and death to the trap victims – regarded by many, perhaps, as cruelty. Petitioners find this fact contrary to the public interest, the well-being of Nevada’s wildlife, and the fair and proper treatment of this iconic species. Nor does it accord with statutory mandates for protection and management of wildlife on behalf of the public’s interest as expressed in Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 501.100 and 501.105.
Commission Authority:
NRS 501.105 directs the commission to enact policy and regulation necessary to ‘preserve, protect, manage and restore’ Nevada’s wildlife. The commission has rule-making authority under the Nevada Administrative Code Section 503.
History:
Since 1965, mountain lions (also known as cougars, pumas, or panthers, and by the scientific name Puma concolor) have been classified as a game species in Nevada and protected from recreational trapping.
Despite legal protection, significant numbers of mountain lions are caught in traps set for other species, especially bobcats.
In 2013, Commissioner Karen Layne requested self-reported, non-target trapping data provided to the department by licensees. Though partial and largely incomplete, trapper self-report data from the years 2002-2004, 2007, and 2010-2016 documented nearly 300 lions reported as incidentally trapped.

Trapper self-report data from years 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 was missing entirely from the department’s files. Read More…