A Tale of Two Cats: Legal Protection

Protecting threatened wildlife can be a long and complicated process, and the first step often takes place far from Asian jungles or African savannas. Legal protections are a vital component of successful conservation and their words can shape the natural world thousands of miles away. In the case of big cats, domestic and international policy can be the determining factor in whether a subspecies goes extinct or thrives. Tigers and mountain lions serve as excellent example species in this conversation, as the two cats fall on opposite ends of the legal protection spectrum.

Tigers are one of the most famous endangered species in the world and have been listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) endangered list since the early 1970s. The IUCN is an international organization dedicated to gathering data, conducting research, and engaging in advocacy for conservation. In addition to their endangered listing, all trade of tiger products has been forbidden by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I since 1975. CITES is an international treaty focused on preventing the trade of endangered species. Appendix I is the most stringent protection possible under CITES and is usually reserved for the most critically endangered species. However, even these strict regulations have not extinguished the lucrative black market for tiger parts. Every country with an indigenous tiger population prohibits all forms of hunting these cats, and in most circumstances, these countries have employed extensive anti-poaching efforts. Beyond the hunting ban, local governments and NGOs are actively working to protect tiger habitats and restore their population across the Asian continent, with varying levels of success.

Mountain lions in the United States are not afforded such legal luxuries. Out of the 16 states with mountain lions, there is some form of state-sanctioned hunting in 14 of them, excluding California and Florida. In Texas, the cats are still considered varmint and can be hunted without any form of regulations governing the method or kill limit. In the remaining 13 cougar hunting states, the respective state agencies that oversee hunting, outline a season and permitting process to kill the big cats for sport. Other than the Florida panther, which is considered a separate and endangered subspecies, the trade of cougar products is not prohibited by CITES.

Clearly, tigers and mountain lions do not share much in common when it comes to conservation status or legal protection. At the most basic level, this disparity in treatment is a reflection of their population statistics. Experts believe only around 3,900 tigers are remaining in the wild, while there are an estimated 30,000 cougars in North America alone (the species can also be found in South America). To get a better idea of the relationship both these cats have with the laws protecting them, we have to take a look into their past.

One experience shared by many species around the world is a rapid decline in population following their introduction to Western colonizers. This was certainly the case for both tigers and cougars. Although both cats had been hunted by indigenous communities for centuries, neither could have prepared for the onslaught brought on by the European settlers.

Tigers

At the turn of the twentieth century, there were over 100,000 tigers roaming the Asian continent. From the shores of the Black Sea in Turkey over to the icy tundra of Eastern Russia and down to the lush jungles of Southern Indonesia, tigers were an apex predator everywhere they lived. However, despite their raw power and impressive adaptability, they were no match for modern machinery. By the 1970’s their global population had decreased by over 96 percent and they had gone locally extinct in most of their former range.

Five Bengal tigers lay killed in front of British hunters in India Source: Word Press

This unprecedented mass annihilation of tigers had many contributing factors, but can be most succinctly captured by three issues - rapid deforestation, increased demand for tiger products, and a total lack of regulations protecting the cats. While tigers have dealt with habitat loss and hunting for many generations, the arrival of European merchants accelerated these threats dramatically. Forests were cleared for hardwood and agriculture, and tigers were killed for their pelts and bones. The twentieth century brought an apocalyptic level of devastation to tigers across the continent.

The harsh decline in tiger populations continued largely unnoticed until 1972, when India conducted their first ever tiger census. The results were clear and horrifying. Tigers had silently become one of the most endangered species on Earth. 

This revelation marked a sharp turn in the legal status of wild tigers. As the world began to realize the impact industry had on wildlife, tigers took center stage as a charismatic species pushed to the brink of extinction. Within one year of the famous census, tiger hunting was banned around the world and many governments started programs dedicated to preserving tigers. For example, the Indian government passed The Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972, protecting tigers and many other endangered species of plants and animals. Over the past 49 years India has continued to amend this act in efforts to further the regulations around tigers. Unfortunately, the new programs, added legislation, and amendments have not remedied all the issues for tigers, as poaching has persisted and deforestation remains a key problem across Asia. However, even though the start on these legal protections came too late, they have certainly allowed for some tiger populations to stabilize and even increase in some countries, such as India and Nepal.

Today, the laws protecting wild tigers are generally steadfast and present in most of their indigenous habitats. The greatest legal challenges facing wild tigers are primarily not legislative, but rather issues of enforcement and community adoption of federal laws.

Mountain Lions

Mountain Lions were once found in every mainland country in North and South America. From cold boreal forests in Canada to humid tropical environments in Brazil, the ghost cat claims the widest range of any carnivore in the Western hemisphere. Unfortunately for cougars, the colonization of the Americas and continued development of forested areas over the past several hundred years has slowly, but surely, chipped away at their habitat. In the United States, deforestation and urban development were devastating for cougar populations, but even still, these effects paled in comparison to what can be described as a government funded war on big cats.

The institutionalized attack on cougars in the United States began in the sixteenth century when Jesuit priests in Southern California began offering rewards to local indigenous hunters for killing mountain lions. The original bounty was set at one bull and remains one of the earliest known wildlife management agreements between colonizers and Indigenous peoples. Over 100 years later in 1684, the Colony of Connecticut established the first government backed cougar bounty. In the following decades, many east coast territories followed suit.

By 1850, cougars were considered rare in the East with only remote populations living deep in forested areas. On Thanksgiving Day in 1881, a local hunter shot and killed what might have been the last cougar in Vermont. Some experts believe this made the Northeastern state the first in which cougars were locally extinct.

Local hunter Alexander Crowell in 1881 with the last confirmed cougar kill in Vermont Source: Vermont Historical Society

By 1900, mountain lions were effectively extinct everywhere East of the Mississippi River apart from a small pocket in Southern Florida. Unfortunately, this did not slow down the onslaught out West. In fact, many Western states were just beginning their fight against these mysterious cats. The newest extermination strategy utilized not only bounties, but also state and federally hired hunters dedicated to killing mountain lions. In 1930, the U.S. Biological Survey employed over 200 professional cougar hunters, in addition to many more working for state agencies. Several hunters even gained national attention for their efforts. John Cecil Smith, known as Cougar Smith, was widely known to have accumulated over 1,000 cougar kills throughout his career. Needless to say, these practices led to thousands of cougars being slaughtered across the remainder of their American habitat.

This widespread attack on cougars persisted across the entirety of their remaining North American range until 1950, when Florida became the first state to reclassify cougars as game animals. This label restricted hunters from freely killing the cats, and put in place rules and regulations regarding when and how cougars could be killed. Only eight years later, Florida made headlines again, becoming the first state to fully protect the cougar. Within the next decade, almost every state with a mountain lion population ended bounty hunting and created dedicated guidelines on hunting the cats. Despite the condemnation of trophy hunting by many conservation groups, it was ultimately the classification of mountain lions as a game species that prevented their widespread extinction. Finally, beyond state laws, the Floridian cougar has also been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1967, granting the cats an even higher level of federal protection.

In the 21st century, mountain lion protection in the U.S. is mostly subject to state policies. From a complete ban on killing cougars in Florida and California to zero restrictions in Texas, these cats can live radically different lives across state borders. Of course, for the individual cat, these invisible political boundaries remain unnoticed. However, on a broader scale, the population distribution and trend of cougar populations serves as a clear reflection of states’ individual efforts to preserve America’s apex predator.

Legally Protected

With advancements in hunting technology, humans unlocked a tremendous advantage over our wild counterparts. However, with that competitive edge came a responsibility not to abuse this power and hunt species to extinction. While it took society several centuries to understand this dynamic, the introduction of legal protections over wild species began the process of restoring some balance to the global ecosystem. Overall the message is clear - legal protection, when drafted carefully and enforced effectively, can be one of the most powerful forces in the relationship between humanity and the natural world.