Joe Rogan has a warning for Americans who love their pets: mountain lions are coming for them—and Democrats are to blame.
On the Tuesday episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the podcaster and UFC commentator claimed that mountain lions, particularly in California, are increasingly preying on household pets because liberal-led states refuse to allow hunters to control their populations. In Rogan’s telling, bans on recreational mountain-lion hunting have transformed neighborhoods into open-season feeding grounds.
Rogan told listeners that an analysis of a mountain lion killed near San Francisco found that “50 percent of their diet is eating people’s pets,” though he did not cite a specific study or agency to support the claim. “That means you’re allowing a monster to eat your dog because you think that’s the right thing to do and to be kind with nature,” Rogan said, framing the issue as a political and moral failure.
Rogan was joined by guests Cameron Hanes and Adam Greentree, both established bowmen and outdoorsmen. Hanes is also the host of three podcasts. Rogan cast the cougar problem as uniquely Democratic, repeatedly singling out California.
Rogan focused on the state because it is one of the only states that bans recreational hunting of mountain lions. The other state with robust protections for cougars is Florida—the notably red state lists the Florida Panther as an endangered species. Rogan’s home state of Texas passed its first-ever legislation to protect its mountain lion population in August 2024, though it is still legal to hunt them.
“They’re doing nothing to curb the population,” he said. “People go, ‘Let nature do its thing.’ No, it doesn’t do its thing. It kills your dog.”
Hanes and Greentree pushed the argument further, suggesting the politics around mountain lions are shaped less by ecology than by elections. Politicians, they argued, are more inclined to cater to their voters who would opt to protect animals. In their view, this pandering to voters has allowed the mountain lion population to go unchecked.
The picture painted by wildlife officials is more complicated.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates the state’s mountain lion population at approximately 4,170 animals. In contrast to the ballooning numbers Rogan suggests, the species is facing mounting pressure. Last week, the outlet reported the agency recommended granting threatened-species status under the California Endangered Species Act to roughly 1,400 mountain lions along the Central Coast and in Southern California after years of monitoring.
Still, Rogan doubled down, urging listeners to rethink their views on hunting. He suggested it should be understood less as sport and more as “monster control,” before adding in his own seemingly pre-emptive damage control, telling his listeners, “I love animals — but I’m on Team People.”
