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Mountain Lions

This photo was taken Oct. 1 by Mark Jakubauskas on Kansas University's West Campus using a motion detection-triggered wildlife camera. •See a  map of reported sightings near KU.(10-08-03) • If you have any stories of your own sightings, we'd love to learn about them. Please feel free to post them here. •  Hear a mountain lion's growl Do you think Mark Jakubauskas' photo shows a mountain lion? I've seen it too. Yes. Absolutely. I believe. It looks like one, but I can't be sure. I can't tell one way or the other. No, it's some other animal -- a housecat or a fox. • See the results » Note: This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to participate.

KU butterfly expert reports mountain lion
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
A Kansas University biologist most noted for his study of monarch butterflies was tracking much bigger, but more elusive, game recently just west of Lawrence -- a mountain lion.

Cougar 'shot' on campus lands on T-shirt, cups
Friday, July 2, 2004
The mountain lion that haunted Kansas University's campus has been seen again -- but this time it's on a T-shirt and a coffee mug.

S.D. cougar found dead in Oklahoma
Saturday, June 5, 2004
A mountain lion that was given a radio collar in South Dakota covered nearly 700 miles and crossed several states -- likely including Kansas -- in less than nine months before being hit by a train and killed in Oklahoma.

Latest big cat sighting worries west Lawrence man
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
It's still out there. A mountain lion that has been spotted by several people on Kansas University's west campus and on the Alvamar Golf Course was seen again Monday night in west Lawrence.

Cougar sightings spread to Alvamar
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Sightings of a mountain lion have spread from Kansas University's west campus into the Alvamar development in western Lawrence. A woman and her daughter reported separate sightings this month of mountain lions, a species state wildlife officials are hesitant to admit exists anywhere in Kansas.

Mountain lion seen on west Lawrence golf course
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
(Updated Tuesday at 5:06 p.m.) Add two more people to the list of those who have spotted a mountain lion within Lawrence's city limits. In fact, Marlene Penny thinks she even heard it about 4:30 a.m. today near her home on the Alvamar Golf Course.

Hayden backs cougar sighting reports
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Mike Hayden doesn't doubt for a minute that a mountain lion is wandering around Kansas University's west campus. "The question, really, in Lawrence is not whether somebody saw a mountain lion; it's, ‘Was it a wild mountain lion or was it one that got loose or was turned loose by its owners?'" said Hayden, secretary of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Cougar sightings cause stir in Capitol
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Faced with a growing amount of evidence, Kansas Wildlife and Parks officials Tuesday came within a whisker of conceding there may be a cougar in Kansas, and that it may be prowling around Kansas University's west campus. "We would not say that they aren't here," said Matt Peek, a research biologist for the state agency.

WIBW video: Capitol studies cougar presence
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
A Kansas University professor spoke with lawmakers on Tuesday on the possibility of mountain lions living in the state.

Committee to hear evidence on mountain lions
Monday, January 26, 2004
Have mountain lions made a comeback Kansas? And should the public be concerned? The Kansas House Environment Committee will examine those questions Tuesday when it gets a report from a Kansas University professor who has been collecting evidence of mountain lions spotted on KU's West Campus.

KU student reports seeing two mountain lions on west campus
Monday, January 5, 2004
(Updated Monday at 12:37 p.m.) A mountain lion that has been seen and photographed on Kansas University's west campus may have a companion -- possibly a mountain lion cub.

Lab confirms droppings belong to mountain lion
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Now there's scientific proof. After years of debate about whether cougars exist in Kansas, the Kansas Biological Survey on Tuesday released DNA analysis results of a feces sample from KU's West Campus area. "The verdict? It's a cougar," Mark Jakubauskas, research assistant professor for the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program with the Kansas Biological Survey, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon.

DNA lends evidence to West Campus cougar
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
(Updated Tuesday at 6:57 p.m.) After years of debate about whether cougars exist in Kansas, the Kansas Biological Survey on Tuesday released DNA analysis results of a feces sample from KU's West Campus area. "The verdict? It's a cougar," Mark Jakubauskas, research assistant professor for the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program with the Kansas Biological Survey, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon.

Young hunter encounters big cat
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
When 12-year-old Anthony Capra crept out into the early morning darkness Saturday with his Winchester lever-action 30-30 rifle, he was hoping to shoot a deer. But the 4-foot-8, 75-pound sixth-grader got more than he bargained for -- he says he ended up taking a couple of shots at a full-grown mountain lion.

6News video: Hunter reports mountain lion sighting
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
Anthony Capra, 12, was looking for a deer on Saturday morning when he came across a mountain lion instead.

Naturalist doubts mountain lion rumors
Wednesday, December 3, 2003
Reports of a mountain lion being seen on Kansas University's west campus come as no surprise to Bob Gress, a naturalist for the city of Wichita.

Nebraska farmer gets OK to shoot mountain lions
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
A farmer who lost a filly and a calf in suspected mountain lion attacks in the past week has won permission to shoot the protected animal.

Former city official spots mountain lion
Friday, October 17, 2003
"Surprise." That was what Dennis Constance experienced when he saw what could be a mountain lion Tuesday morning on Kansas University's West Campus. He saw the animal in the same area where others have reported seeing it, and a photo of it was taken Oct. 1.

Letter: Photo doubted
Saturday, October 11, 2003

Letter: Protect the cat
Friday, October 10, 2003

6News video: Experts want more evidence of mountain lion
Thursday, October 9, 2003
The photos taken October 1 are not conclusive proof, say the experts. They'd like more evidence, such as clear tracks, clearer photos, or plaster casts.

Experts skeptical about mountain lion photo
Thursday, October 9, 2003
They won't say it's a mountain lion. And they won't say it isn't. Three Kansas experts who have studied mountain lions have been examining a photo taken Oct.1 on Kansas University's west campus by a KU faculty member with an automatic motion-detector camera.

Big game on campus
Wednesday, October 8, 2003
If you're hiking on Kansas University's west campus, don't drag a deer carcass with you. And, for heaven's sake, don't make any noises resembling a wounded rabbit. A suspected mountain lion that has been seen skulking through the wooded terrain of west campus has apparently shown up again -- and there's photographic proof.

Photo shows 'proof' of mountain lion on KU campus
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
(Updated Friday at 3:51 p.m.) A Kansas University faculty member said today he has "photographic proof" about recent reports of a mountain lion roaming on West Campus.

Captured mountain lion may end up in Omaha zoo
Friday, October 3, 2003
The mountain lion captured in urban Omaha is more likely to go to a zoo than to be released back into the wild, a state Game and Parks Commission official said.

Leavenworth residents say they've seen mountain lions
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Some Leavenworth residents say they've seen mountain lions in the city's wooded areas, but a state conservation officer said none of the reported sightings have been confirmed.
Sharon Crary, who lives in southwest Leavenworth near the city limits, said she saw a mountain lion recently as she was driving. She found pictures on the Internet she said looked like the animal she saw.

Car hits, kills mountain lion in Missouri
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
For the second time in 10 months, a Missouri motorist has struck a mountain lion on a major highway -- growing proof that wild cougars may be making a comeback in Missouri, state officials said Tuesday.

Rumors of mountain lion sightings persist
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
I got the word from the state on Monday -- there are no wild mountain lions living in Kansas. But since I reported that my wife and I saw one Thursday evening on Kansas University's west campus, I've had nearly a dozen people tell me about their own close encounters with these large, unidentified feline objects.

Mountain lions
Tuesday, August 12, 2003

6News video: Sightings of big cats abound in area
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Officials remain skeptical, but sightings of a mountain lion on west campus might not be uncommon.

Mountain lion may prowl running route through KU's west campus
Saturday, August 9, 2003
OK, maybe I shouldn't have been that surprised. After all, there was a peacock running loose in the city the previous day. But among the last things I expected to see Thursday evening on Kansas University's west campus was a mountain lion.

Mountain lion killed in crash probably wild
Saturday, March 22, 2003
A mountain lion fatally hit last year by a freeway motorist probably was wild and not someone's pet, biologists say tests show.

Oklahomans report cougar sightings
Sunday, December 1, 2002
Residents are spotting cougars around town, and they don't mean mascots at football games. Wildlife specialists say they are certain cougars roam in and around Ada, and there have been several spottings during the past few years as proof.

Cougar may have been wild
Thursday, October 17, 2002
The mountain lion killed this week in Kansas City showed no signs that it had been kept in captivity, an expert said.

KC motorist kills mountain lion
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Authorities are trying to determine whether a mountain lion that bolted into the path of a car and was killed was wild or raised in captivity. Mountain lions, also known as cougars, were once native to Missouri and Kansas but were eliminated by hunting and habitat destruction.

More mountain lions sighted
Monday, December 17, 2001
Since a mountain lion was shot and killed near a school in St. Paul last year, some in Howard County have been wondering if the endangered animal is making a comeback.
Nebraska Game and Parks District Wildlife Manager Daylan Figgs and Howard County Deputy Sheriff Bill Luft think it's more likely that people are keeping their eyes open since the November 2000 shooting.

Mountain lion reported in yard
Saturday, August 11, 2001
By Stephanie Paterik

Alice Summers says it was no ordinary cat stalking around her west Lawrence home at 7:30 a.m. Friday. "My dog was tied to the front porch and started barking, so I looked outside, and 20 feet from my dog was this lion," Summers said. "The lion stared at us like it was sizing us up and continued to stalk our house for half an hour."

Big cats call for big-time respect
Monday, May 7, 2001
By Terry Rombeck

William Pottorff knows: When you're handling tigers, you have to be on tiger time. Pottorff, president and senior curator of the Cedar Cove Feline Conservation Park near Louisburg, figures that was the problem April 29 near Oskaloosa, when a tiger escaped while being transferred to a tiger sanctuary there.

Unconfirmed cougar sightings continue
Thursday, November 23, 2000
By Amber Stuever

Wildlife officials insist big cats do not prowl in Kansas. But try telling that to Mary Ellen Diederich. "I am so positive of what I saw that I would be very hard to talk out of it," Diederich said. Diederich, of Washington County, in north-central Kansas, said she encountered a mountain lion near her home almost three years ago.