DODGE CITY — The recent discovery of a dead mountain lion in western Kansas brings to five the number of mountain lion confirmations in the state since August.
The state Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism says before 2007, Kansas went more than a century without a confirmed wild mountain sighting. But there have been 14 confirmations since 2007.
The Wichita Eagle reports the previous four confirmations this year have been trail camera photos, sightings and videos. A landowner near Dodge City contacted the department last week after finding an underweight dead mountain lion in a shed.
The department says Kansas is one of many states to have increased mountain lion confirmations over about the past decade. It’s thought many of the cats have wandered from South Dakota or the Rocky Mountains.
