Rare mountain lion sighting is one of just 29 in Kansas since 1904, officials say

A mountain lion was spotted recently in rural Kansas, raising questions about whether the animal is making itself at home in a state not known for the wild cats.

The adult mountain lion was seen on a trail camera carrying a recently killed porcupine in Kiowa County, about 115 miles west of Wichita, the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism said in a Facebook post Sunday.

Officials say it might be the same mountain lion that was the source of three confirmed sightings within a 20-mile area less than three months ago.

“This is the first time multiple photos of a cat have been confirmed in the same area within a time frame that could indicate the presence of a resident lion,” the wildlife department said. “However, it’s too early to tell because it could be a different lion coincidentally in the same area.”

So how rare are mountain lion sightings in Kansas?

Before 2007, the last confirmed sighting in the state was in 1904, according to wildlife officials.

But since 2007, there have been 29 confirmed sightings, Kansas wildlife research biologist Matt Peek said. Some of the cats have been spotted multiple times, including the Kiowa County mountain lion, so it’s unclear how many mountain lions there have been.

They seemed “to be passing through Kansas, rather than staying and establishing home ranges,” state officials said.

Mountain lions are more commonly found in the Oklahoma panhandle and in Colorado within 75 miles of the Kansas border.

Reports of mountain lions in Kansas often turn out to be bobcats instead. Bobcats “are much smaller than mountain lions and have shorter tails,” according to the National Park Service.

Mountain lions can grow to 6 feet in length and weigh up to 145 pounds, the park service says.

“People want to see something exciting, and mountain lions are exciting,” Michelle La Rue, executive director of the Cougar Network, told the Wichita Eagle in 2017. “But unfortunately for them, most have seen something else.”

Mountain lions roamed forests and hills in Kansas and neighboring states before European settlement, according to the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation.

“Direct persecution, conversion of wildlands to agriculture and human development, roads and highways, and other forms of habitat loss all contributed to the decline and ultimate extirpation of mountain lions in Kansas,” the organization said.

There are likely fewer than 30,000 mountain lions remaining in the United States, primarily in 14 western states and Florida, according to the foundation.

This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Rare mountain lion sighting is one of just 29 in Kansas since 1904, officials say."