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(Provided by Gigafact)

Yes.

When hunters kill mountain lions, state law mandates that “all edible parts of lions must be properly prepared for human consumption.”

It is illegal to kill and abandon a mountain lion, remove only the lion’s pelt or buy or sell mountain lions. The rules are meant to prevent wanton killing and discourage people from wasting meat from animals they killed.

To hunt mountain lions in Colorado, residents must obtain a hunting license from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, pass a mountain lion-specific exam and buy a special permit from CPW. Permits allow hunters to kill one mountain lion per year. 

Between 3,800 and 4,400 mountain lions live in Colorado, making them a species “of least concern” to state wildlife officers, along with bears, elk, moose, coyotes and other species too abundant to be considered threatened. 

See full source list below.

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The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

References:

Hunting Mountain Lion, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, accessed Oct. 28, 2025. Source Link

2025-2026 Colorado Mountain Lion, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, accessed Oct. 28, 2025. Source Link

Mountain Lion, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, accessed October 2025. Source Link

Colorado voters reject big cat trophy hunting ban, Colorado Newsline, Nov. 6, 2024. Source Link

Type of Story: Fact-Check

Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.

Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the...