PHOENIX— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Commission today, challenging their mountain lion sport hunting quotas as unsustainable and asking the court to suspend issuing mountain lion sport hunting permits until the state’s population has recovered and is sustainable. The mountain lion hunting season begins Aug. 21.

The department’s data shows that 1,937 mountain lions were killed by sport hunters from 2018 to 2024, an average of 277 per year. Of these, 54% were kittens younger than 1 year old (518) or pre-reproductive juveniles younger than 2 years old (519). In addition, females made up 41% of mountain lions killed during that period. Research shows that killing more than 20% of adult females in a hunting population can sharply reduce mountain lion numbers.

“Arizona’s state-sanctioned killing of kittens and juvenile mountain lions is barbaric, unsustainable and illegal,” said Robin Silver, Center co-founder and board member. “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.”

Today’s lawsuit includes three independent modeling analyses of seven years of department hunting data by wildlife demographic experts. All three analyses concluded that without reducing hunting quotas, Arizona’s mountain lions will face steep, unsustainable population declines. The quota for the upcoming season is 340 mountain lions.

The lawsuit says the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Commission’s unsustainable management practices violate their own acknowledgment that they are legally required to hold the state’s wildlife in the public trust.

The Center is represented by the law firm Hofmeyr Wang.