Carole Baskin brings her celebrity to Colorado to ban trophy hunting
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DENVER (KDVR) — The 2020 documentary “Tiger King” made Joe Exotic a household name. But it also elevated his long-time nemesis, animal rights advocate Carole Baskin.
She’s using her celebrity to get behind a new ballot initiative in Colorado. Baskin joined Channel 2 for an exclusive conversation.
Baskin claims the “trophy hunting” of mountain lions, along with the hunting of bobcats and lynx for their pelts, ought to be banned. She is backing the work of the nonprofit “Cats Aren’t Trophies.”
Photos: Yearling mountain lions rescued from Vallecito Reservoir spillway
The grassroots group is seeking signatures for a ballot measure to be presented to Colorado voters this fall.
“When you have trophy hunters, they take out the biggest cats they can find, the oldest cats, the most beautiful, and these are the cats that keep the ecosystem together,” Baskin said. “It astounds me that there are people that find it fun to find these animals and kill them, to torture and maim and kill them, and call it hunting.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife hasn’t taken a position on the proposed ballot measure, but it’s worth noting that trophy hunting is already technically “illegal” in Colorado. Hunters are required to eat and use what they kill.
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