Utah is aggressively culling cougars for a study. Critics call it 'an extermination campaign'

Utah is paying hunters to kill as many mountain lions, or cougars, as possible, and this is going to continue until 2029. It is being done as part of a study to understand how the removal of predators would affect mule deer and bighorn sheep populations. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) started the program late last year in six of the state’s 30 hunting units. The lions have killed several sheep in the area, causing major losses to herders. The agency started asking hunters to cull lions in October 2025, while it itself is keeping a check on the number of deer. According to DWR spokesperson Faith Jolley, 45 cougars have been killed till March 19. Biologists started catching and collaring mule deer in December. Several people, including herders who have lost their sheep, have raised concerns about the so-called study, which is extremely aggressive. High Country News quoted Andy Rice, a sheep herder, as saying, "My concern is that the government that I pay into, and the conservation organisations that I’ve trusted my whole life as a hunter in Utah, are willfully creating programs that are destructive to our communities."

Elliot Ross, a National Geographic explorer, in Utah, told the outlet that to call it a "study" seems "hollow and disingenuous" and termed it "an extermination campaign masquerading as science." The study is termed "Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative Predator Management Study" and is a joint program by scientists, sporting groups and the state wildlife agency. Brigham Young University biologists Brock McMillan and Randy Larsen are expected to analyse the data and help with capturing mule deer. The entire project is expected to cost $1.29 million. The project will run through December 2029, and the data will be analysed in 2030 and 2031.

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Utah Wildlife Bill was changed in 2023

According to the report, state legislators want to reduce the populations of mountain lions, bears and coyotes urgently. The H.B. 125 law, passed in 2020, mandates the DWR director to cull mountain lions if the number of deer and elk falls below a given size in the state. Jolley says these numbers have been below target size for several years, but since it didn't go into effect until May 2025, they weren't required to take any action. Recreational hunting of mountain lions in Utah has been legal for decades, but each hunter could kill only one per season. However, in 2023, a change in the Wildlife Bill removed these restrictions.