Colorado voters will be asked in November whether they want to ban mountain lion, bobcat and lynx hunting after the Secretary of State approved the question for the ballot on Wednesday. 

The group campaigning for the initiative, Cats Aren’t Trophies, submitted the required signatures earlier this month.

Initiative 91 reads, in part: “The voters of Colorado find and declare that any trophy hunting of mountain lions, bobcats, or lynx is inhumane, serves no socially acceptable or ecologically beneficial purpose and fails to further public safety.”

If approved by a majority of voters, those who violate the measure would be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. They could also be subject to a five-year suspension of their wildlife license. 

The initiative makes exceptions for killing the wild cats to defend a person, livestock or pets. It also makes exceptions for depredating animals and accidents, such as vehicle and animal collisions. 

Mountain lion hunting season, which has an annual cap set by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, is between November and March. There were 502 mountain lions killed in the 2022 to 2023 season, according to a Parks and Wildlife report. Colorado officials estimate that there are between 3,800-4,400 mountain lions in the state, not including kittens, according to its website. 

Bobcat hunting season is from December through February. Lynx, which look similar to bobcats, are federally protected and illegal to hunt. Lynx were included in case they are ever downlisted from state or federal protections, a spokeswoman for the campaign said.

Opponents of the measure and initiative have argued that biologists and wildlife experts at Colorado Parks and Wildlife should be left to manage the populations and hunting permits.

“Ballot initiatives and the ballot box biology that they bring reduce complex ecological systems to soundbites and pleas to emotion,” said Ryan Bronson with Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation in an earlier news release.

The Cats Aren’t Trophies campaign has received more than $400,000 in contributions and has spent more than $200,000, according to the state’s campaign finance website. 

Other items that have been approved for the ballot are a question to set a statewide property tax cap and another asking if voters want to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution.