Linn County Sighting Confirmed To Be A Mountain Lion

[Stoneroller]

http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/linn-county-sighting-confirmed-be-mountain-lion

JEFFERSON CITY Mo – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has just confirmed a mountain lion sighting in southern Linn County along the border of Chariton County. A landowner in the area contacted the MDC on Feb. 15 with two photos of a mountain lion taken Dec. 29 by a trail camera on his property.

“The photo is clearly of a mountain lion and we have confirmed the location,” said Jeff Beringer, resource scientist with the MDC’s Mountain Lion Response Team. “It may be wearing a radio collar based on what appears to be an antenna extending from the cat’s neck.”

The Linn County location is about 25 miles from where a mountain was shot and killed in Macon County on Jan. 22. This latest confirmed sighting makes five confirmed reports of a mountain lion in Missouri since November and 15 confirmed reports over the past 16 years.

Beringer said that it appears these mountain lions are young males roaming from other states in search of territory.

“It is very difficult to determine exactly where these individual cats are coming from, but we do know that young male mountain lions go in search of new territories at about 18 months of age and during this time of year,” he explained. “And it makes sense that these big cats could roam into Missouri from the west and use the Missouri river and other river corridors to move throughout the state without being easily detected.”

He added that mountain-lion populations in other states such as Texas, Colorado, South Dakota and Nebraska are growing and that young males are dispersing eastward. Recent confirmed sightings in Nebraska have increased from five in 2004 to more than 30 in 2010.

Beringer said that MDC has no evidence to suggest that a breeding population of mountain lions exists in Missouri, and that MDC has never stocked or released mountain lions in Missouri and has no plans to do so.

Mountain lions are nocturnal, secretive and generally avoid contact with humans.

“We have no documented cases in Missouri of mountain lions attacking livestock, people or pets,” he said. “There is a much greater risk of harm from automobiles, stray dogs and lightning strikes than from mountain lions.”

Beringer explained that the MDC’s Mountain Lion Response Team gets hundreds of calls and emails each year from people who believe they have seen mountain lions. When there is some type of physical evidence, the team investigates.

“More than 90 percent of these investigations turn out to be bobcats, house cats, or dogs,” he said. “Our investigations involving claims of pets or livestock being attacked by mountain lions typically turn out to be the work of dogs. And most of the photos we get of mountain lions turn out to be doctored photographs circulating on the Internet.”

Mountain lions (Puma concolor), also called cougars, panthers and pumas, were present in Missouri before pioneer settlement. The last documented Missouri mountain lion was killed in the Bootheel in 1927. The closest populations of mountain lions to Missouri are in South Dakota and a small population in northwest Nebraska.

Mountain lions are a protected species in the state under the Wildlife Code of Missouri. The Code does allow the killing of any mountain lion attacking or killing livestock or domestic animals or threatening human safety. The incident must be reported to the MDC immediately and the intact carcass, including the pelt, must be surrendered to the MDC within 24 hours.

Two recent mountain lion shootings in Macon and Ray counties did not result in charges against the individuals involved because of threats to human safety. A 1994 case involving the shooting of a mountain lion in Carter County for no justifiable reason resulted in the individuals being prosecuted and fined.

“Each situation must be investigated and reviewed on a case-by-case basis and evaluated on its own merit,” explained Beringer. “The Department does not condone the indiscriminate shooting of mountain lions. We acknowledge that people have the right to protect themselves and their property, but simply seeing a mountain lion does not automatically mean there is a threat. We expect people to exercise good judgment and try to avoid confrontations with all wildlife, including mountain lions. Given a chance, mountain lions almost always withdraw from human contact.”

To report a sighting, physical evidence or other mountain-lion incident, contact a local MDC office or conservation agent, or email the Mountain Lion Response Team at mountain.lion@mdc.mo.gov.

[Chief Grey Bear]

The only holes are in your conspiracy theory. When trying to establish one entity as less than truthful, one should produce some factual evidence to the contrary. You have nothing but discontent and an avenue in which to display it.

[jjtroutbum]

So young male lions just wander off looking for territory that is void of she lions. Sounds counter productive for reproduction IMHO.

[flytyer57]

You can bet that there has got to be a few females around.

Unless the MDC wants us to believe these particular cats are of the variety that rhymes with bags.

[Stoneroller]

de nile. not just a river in africa. it's not a theory when there have been 4 sighted in the past 3 months, only 2 of which have been sexed because they were killed. i dont have to establish any conspiracy, i'm posting MDC's facts. funny how in the same stroke that you attempt to label me as someone who isn't producing facts, have no facts of your own to state. Thanks for playing.

[troutfiend1985]

I must have missed something about a conspiracy theory. I thought this was just a confirmed sighting.

Anyways, it does make me think a little more fishing back country streams(although all of these sightings have come from areas with large rivers in proximity). USed to be I was only scared of the two legged animals and distilleries, now I'm not scared, but cautious of the fact that these animals are here.

And 4 sightings in three months makes me think that there are a lot more than these few running around. Maybe 20+??

[Chief Grey Bear]

de nile. not just a river in africa. it's not a theory when there have been 4 sighted in the past 3 months, only 2 of which have been sexed because they were killed. i dont have to establish any conspiracy, i'm posting MDC's facts. funny how in the same stroke that you attempt to label me as someone who isn't producing facts, have no facts of your own to state. Thanks for playing.

You stated:

beginning to see some holes in MDC's theory of no breeding populat

So where are your facts??? You didn't post one that even remotely suggested that MO has an established resident pair, that being male and female, of breeding Mt. Lions. If that is what you want to proclaim, then you need provide some facts.

And since I am not the one proclaiming exuberant accusations, I technically am not the one that needs to provide the facts. But since you have an obsession with charging others with producing facts, I can add that since 1994, when the first confirmed sighting occured, only one has been a female. That does not mean that some of the other sightings were not females. It means of the animals that the MDC was able to physically check, only one was a female. That makes if very difficult to state that there is an established resident pair. The life expectancy, I don't believe, is long enough to get established.

[Stoneroller]

OK for those of you who might be a little slow and/or chemically imbalanced, the fact that this is the 4th confirmed sighting inside of a few months, and considering how far away from known breeding populations some of them have been, I stated that I'm starting to see holes in MDC's mantra of no breeding populations in Missouri. Those are the facts, capped with a statement that is clearly my opinion. Is that clearer for you or do I need to draw some pictures?

[Outside Bend]

OK for those of you who might be a little slow and/or chemically imbalanced, the fact that this is the 4th confirmed sighting inside of a few months, and considering how far away from known breeding populations some of them have been, I stated that I'm starting to see holes in MDC's mantra of no breeding populations in Missouri. Those are the facts, capped with a statement that is clearly my opinion. Is that clearer for you or do I need to draw some pictures?

I have to agree with Chief, I'm not seeing it. Where are the holes? Have they found cubs in the state? Have they found animals which they can identify as being born in the state? Have they found females with recent birth scars indicating successful breeding in the state?

There's been all sorts of documented cases of odd animals in Missouri- wolves, elk, mule deer, piranha, savanna monitors, alligators, tundra swans, Pacific loons, flamingos, wood storks, golden eagles, snowy owls, all sorts of exotic hummingbirds... Critters, be they cinnamon teal or mountain lions, can move an awfully long way, and occasionally they crop up in places you wouldn't expect. But saying an animal is occasionally present in the state and saying an animal has a breeding population in the state are two entirely different things.

It seems pretty cut and dried to me- MDC hasn't found any evidence to say there's a breeding population in MO, so they're doing the public no disservice. No offense, I know you care passionately about this issue, but I think you're reading too much into it, and seeing things that aren't really there.

[stlfisher]

I wound't say they are breeding and I don't think the MDC is hiding anything, but I do think there is some evidence there maybe substantially more Mountain Lions in the state than previosly thought. The number of sightings this year would seem to substantiate this when compared to previous years. It could just be "one of those years", so we will have to wait and see what happens over the next few years.