The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is seeking public comment on a new regulatory proposal that would institute mandatory harvest reporting for mountain lions.
The agency will accept feedback until May 27 ahead of an official vote by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission at its monthly public meeting.
Texas currently maintains the most flexible mountain lion regulations in the nation, featuring no bag or harvest limits. However, because of this framework, the species’ total population status across the state remains unknown. Agency biologists note that while voluntary reporting mechanisms were previously utilized, lack of participation rendered the collected data unusable for population tracking.
Under the new mandate, successful hunters and trappers would be required to log harvests via the Texas Hunt and Fish app within 24 hours. They would need to provide county-level data to help estimate large-scale population dynamics without compromising individual property privacy.
Mountain lions are relatively uncommon, secretive apex predators in Texas, primarily concentrated throughout the Trans-Pecos region, the brushlands of South Texas, and the western Hill Country.
TPWD officials emphasized that the proposed change is designed to establish reliable demographic baselines while continuing to protect the statutory management rights of hunters, trappers, and private landowners. State wildlife managers noted that combining age and sex data with broader landscape figures offers a cost-effective method to gauge habitat health, pointing to similar mandatory reporting that has successfully optimized wildlife tracking in other states.
To capture feedback, the agency has opened multiple public comment windows. Residents can submit electronic statements on the TPWD public comment portal or email Jonah Evans, Nongame & Rare Species Program Leader, directly. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission will also hear in-person public testimony beginning 9 a.m. May 28 at the agency’s state headquarters in Austin.