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Confirmed mountain lion sightings rise in Missouri, Kansas

Midwest mountain lions come from Black Hills, Badlands and northwestern Nebraska

By The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Reports of confirmed mountain lion sightings have increased over the past decade in Kansas and Missouri, but experts say there are no signs that the animals are reproducing in either state.

Mountain lions — also known as pumas, panthers, catamounts and cougars — were nearly wiped out in the U.S. in the early 1900s as hunting and a shortage of prey drastically reduced their numbers. But a century later, they are starting to recolonize in the Midwest, researchers said.

Almost all of the mountain lions confirmed in Kansas and Missouri since 1994 were males coming from established populations in the Black Hills, Badlands and northwestern Nebraska, The Kansas City Star reported.

Female mountain lions are typically reluctant to wander far from their mothers, said Clay Nielsen, director of scientific research for the Cougar Network, a nonprofit research group. Males aren’t so inhibited.

In May, Missouri state troopers euthanized a male mountain lion in Laclede County after it was struck on Interstate 44. Since 1994, there have been more than 50 confirmed sightings of the animals, the Department of Conservation said. In Kansas there have been 10 cougar sightings during that period.

Matt Peek, research biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, said the difference between numbers in the two states can be explained by the roaming mountain lions’ route.

“We know that a lot of lions have dispersed from the Black Hills,” he said. “They’re more likely to come across Nebraska from west to east following the river, which leads them to Missouri.”

Kansas has significant prey but the landscape is less than prime, Peck said.

The Midwest rebound is a result of modern management and conservation, experts say.

Mountain lions in Missouri are protected under the Wildlife Code, which prohibits hunting but allows the killing of an animal threatening life or property. A similar code applies in Kansas.

The Missouri Conservation Department’s mountain lion response team has only identified one female, killed in 1994.

While conservationists see the mountain lion’s return as a success, it’s also a source of concern because they are predators.

Many states, including Nebraska, allow hunting of the animals. There won’t be an open season there this year because there was a higher number of lion deaths last year, said Sam Wilson, animal program manager at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

There are no confirmed cases of mountain lion attacks on livestock, pets or people in Kansas or Missouri.


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I don't believe NE presently allows lion hunts. They did in the past but PC overtook the issue and they have been discontinued IIRC the game warden from the NW corner Of the state talked to about a week ago.

He said lion predation on deer is fearful there and they need control but it has been, as Barney Fife was fond of saying, "nipped in the bud."

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When I worked for KDWP twenty some years ago, someone called in that a mountain lion had been killed on the highway but nobody believed there were any lions in Kansas. I think another caller reported it was alive and on the prowl. The investigation found an African lion that had been dumped at the side of the road by a circus after it died. I have to laugh that now they really do have mountain lions.



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No big deal. We already have black panthers. Every bubba around here has seen at least one. Funny how nobody has a trail cam pic of one or has ever shot one... confused


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Those dispersing lions show up here in Wisconsin from time to time and cause quite a stir. Trail cam pics are the predominate evidence that they are here.

The DNR act like a bunch of buffoons when they are presented with an opportunity to capture one. A friend of mine in the northwest part of state treed one with his bear hounds for the DNR. It was an extensive chase with the lion treeing then bailing out at the approach of the men. Finally the lion stayed put in a tree, the DNR moved in with a tranquilizer gun and darted the lion. The lion went airborne and hit the ground running.

My friend asked the DNR if they were shooting blanks and they said they shot it with a low dose because they did not want the lion to fall out of the tree and hurt itself. The DNR wanted to pursue further and my friend said screw you and pulled out.

A landowner in southeast Wisconsin noticed a set of large cat tracks in the snow going into an old barn. He investigated and a lion skedaddled out of there. He called the DNR and rather than calling a houndman in to capture the lion, they just took some hair and scat evidence. They declined to call in the dogs because they did not want to disturb the neighbors. That cat was shot in Chicago by a cop and it's DNA matched the DNA found near the barn in Wisconsin, plus placed the cat from the Black Hills.

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Hope a lot of lions from Nebraska wander down to Kansas. Or end up in Omaha munching on the freaking liberals pets. We've had multiple deer hunters shoot them in self defense over the last 10 years, and Game & Parks denies everything until somebody hands trail cam photos to a newspaper or one is shot in Omaha.

Q) Lions in Nebraska?
A1) No.. none.
Oops) Lion ran over on the interstate just outside Omaha, followed soon by another lion shot by cops inside Omaha.
A2) Only male lions that are dispersing...

Q) Any lions reproducing in Nebraska?
A1) No.. none.
Oops) Trail cam pics showing cubs pop up
A2) Maybe just 1 or 2 females.


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They wander a long way. One was hit on a highway in Connecticut, and its DNA suggested it was from South Dakota:

The long journey of a Mountain Lion

Astonishing to think of how many people, towns, and cities it passed, on its journey east. From the photos, it seemed to be in good condition.


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They have such huge territories and are so reclusive under normal conditions that you can go hunting for years in the woods where they live and not see one close up. Now the deer carcasses they leave behind are a different thing, those I see all the time.

They aren't like wolves where they pack hunt and drive game populations way down, as long as they get shot at once in a while to keep their fear of people high they are less trouble for pets and livestock than coyotes since they are better deer hunters. Not that they wont take a doggie snack now and then but problem lions tend to get shot quickly even here in anti- hunting Southern California.

They do get your attention when they scream or particularly if they growl at you but other than that little bit of awareness they are pretty low impact, they do need to be hunted to keep them behaving normally. It is illegal to hunt them in CA but the fish &game hunters kill the same number that used to be killed by hunters without the benefit of way more misses to influence behavior.

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Quote
The investigation found an African lion that had been dumped at the side of the road by a circus after it died.


Quite a few years back, early 80's I think, a friend and I followed a neighbor while he moved his tractor and dirt pan to another job, then picked him up a brought him home. On the way back, an animal ran across the road less than 100 yds. from us. We all hesitated to say, but thought we saw the same thing. It looked like a hyena to all three of us. An old man and woman that lived near there said that one of their sons killed a deer like creature near this same spot, that they were not sure what it was. This is within 2 miles of where I live and I have seen nothing else out of the ordinary, but hear stories of a lion like creature from time to time. Mountain lion or other cat, I do not know. I figure a carnival/circus lost some animals and did not report it, but that is a guess. miles


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When I was living in North Carolina 10 years ago, a highway patrolman was driving along the highway, looked over, and saw two young tigers, maybe about 80-90 lbs each. He stopped and found the cats were quite friendly and happy to see him. He carried them back to the office and the officers had a fine time playing with them, until animal control arrived. I think they found a shelter for them.


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I have a cousin in North Central Missouri who claims to have seen a female mountain lion and three cubs lying in a dirt road when he was mowing hay some years ago. He called his folks to come over and see them (on his ham radio), and they saw the cats, too. He didn't have his camera with him, but did have his radio.

This cousin hasn't got enough imagination to lie about anything, he's about steadiest character I know, period. My uncle confirmed it, too.

Another cousin, who's NOT too bright, has seen them, too, and one of his friends set up a trail cam and caught some pics of another big cat on another property about 5 miles away, and someone else who had a camera out caught another cat on film.

MDC confirmed that one.


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In 2003 or 2004, I was heading west on I-80 and saw a mountain lion chasing a whitetail buck in a cut corn field that is now the home of a Wal-Mart, near the intersection of Highway 370 and I-80 in southwest Omaha. I reported it to G&P, but the CO who I spoke with didn't believe that there were any that close to Omaha.

The cougar that was killed in Omaha earlier this year was shot by police on the southeast corner of 120th and Q Streets, within sight of the baseball field that my Son's team was practicing on three nights a week and where his Boy Scout troop meets on Mondays. That area is almost all suburban neighborhoods, with a little retail and light manufacturing thrown into the mix. Certainly not the sort of habitat that you think would attract a cougar. Maybe it was just passing through on its way to Kansas or Missouri.

I have read somewhere that an adult mountain lion may need to kill one deer per week to feed itself, but Nebraska G&P says that they mostly eat raccoon in eastern NE, which isn't a bad thing.

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What he said! Idaho is also willing to share with you...





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Not surprising as there are quite a few in Nebraska. My father shot one following him out of a deer stand a couple of years ago.

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Originally Posted by ratsmacker
I have a cousin in North Central Missouri who claims to have seen a female mountain lion and three cubs lying in a dirt road when he was mowing hay some years ago. He called his folks to come over and see them (on his ham radio), and they saw the cats, too. He didn't have his camera with him, but did have his radio.

This cousin hasn't got enough imagination to lie about anything, he's about steadiest character I know, period. My uncle confirmed it, too.

Another cousin, who's NOT too bright, has seen them, too, and one of his friends set up a trail cam and caught some pics of another big cat on another property about 5 miles away, and someone else who had a camera out caught another cat on film.

MDC confirmed that one.


I'm also in north-central Missouri and have seen a female cougar on my property also. My home is isolated in a thickly forested area. I was out in the yard with my dogs one evening and heard it squall. Looking up our drive, we saw it standing there about 50 yds away looking at us. My male GSD barked at it and the cougar squalled again. Our female GSD beat feet to the garage, the male got tight up against my leg. It then moved off into the woods to the west. I called MDC and they poo-pooed me, even though I assured them that I knew what a cougar looked and sounded like and reminded them that I was the guy that had reported seeing the cougar that was now mounted on display in their office.

Next afternoon, it killed and partially ate a neighbor's Rotweiller, and the neighbors (and their traumatized kids) heard the entire fight. When the carcass of the dog was found by another neighbor, and they called the MDC, THIS time they sent out some officers and a biologist, who just happened to be a good friend of my wife. They recovered enough DNA evidence to determine that it was: A) female, and B) from "native" Missouri bloodlines.

The cougar was tracked by sighting reports, and other evidence, over the next several weeks as it slowly wandered northwesterly from here. About six months later, one evening I heard a cougar squall on the ridge west of my home. I reported it to the MDC and again was poo-pooed by the buffoon on the phone, HOWEVER, it wasn't long before the biologist called and confirmed that the call I heard was the "I'm hungry and I'm hunting" call and advised me to keep my dogs close and that it was the same female as before and that she had cubs not far away.

So they ARE breeding in northern Missouri, at least intermittently. This particular female has disappeared and hasn't been seen or heard of in 2-1/2 years. The biologist friend says there is another one that they know of that had cubs at an undisclosed location north of the Missouri River, in Missouri, this year.

Last edited by Skeezix; 09/01/15.

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