Mountain Lions - Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife

Photo Credit: Justin Shoemaker, USFWS

On Mountain Lions

Public Notice:

No evidence suggests that Kentucky is home to wild mountain lions. Any mountain lion appearing in the state would likely be an escaped (or released) captive animal. In Kentucky, a ban on the possession of mountain lions as pets has been in place since 2005.

Few large mammals generate more intrigue, folklore and misinformation than the mountain lion. While this predator once roamed much of the U.S., their numbers plummeted from predator eradication campaigns, hunting and habitat loss.

In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern cougar extinct. Based on its extensive research, the Service concluded this subspecies of big cats had disappeared from the east by the 1930s. While mountain lions were once common in Kentucky, research shows the state has not supported a wild population of mountain lions for more than a century. In the landmark 1974 book “Mammals of Kentucky,” authors Roger W. Barbour and Wayne H. Davis noted no valid records of mountain lions after 1899.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources receives reports each year of mountain lions roaming the state. However, there have been only two confirmations: a female kitten struck by a car in Floyd County in June 1997 and an adult male mountain lion dispatched by a Kentucky Fish and Wildlife conservation officer in Bourbon County on December 15, 2014. DNA testing revealed the kitten had South American ancestry, concluding it was of captive origin. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologists rely on physical, verifiable evidence to assess mountain lion sightings in the state.

Radio-collared mountain lion standing over a kill on a hill — Radio-collared mountain lion captured on a remote camera in North Dakota.

Download the 2014 Mountain Lion Investigation Reports below:

How to Report Potential Sightings!

Report a suspected mountain lion to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife by calling the department’s Information Center during weekday working hours at 1-800-858-1549 or by emailing info.center@ky.gov.

Photographs:

Original electronic images should be provided to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.
Do not Photoshop, crop, enhance or otherwise alter the image.
Images taken off the Internet or a Facebook post have questionable credibility.
Provide all images containing the animal in question (not just the “best” image).
Record the date and time the image was captured.
Provide the county and location where the image was captured.
Submit electronic images with all pertinent information via email to info.center@ky.gov

Tracks:

Provide Kentucky Fish and Wildlife with a clear photograph of the track.
Do not Photoshop, crop, enhance or otherwise alter the image.
The track should be clean, clear and easy to see.
Remember that if a track shows claw marks, it is likely not a mountain lion.
Lay a dollar bill, coin or ruler beside the track for the photograph.
Provide the length and width of the track.
Provide the county and location where the track was found.
Submit electronic images with this information via email to info.center@ky.gov

Mountain lion track — Mountain Lion track image courtesy of Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Note: Tracks may be preserved for inspection by securely covering with a 5-gallon bucket.

Good evidence is the best way to determine the presence of a mountain lion. By following the suggested guidelines, reports of mountain lions can be better evaluated for authenticity. If the physical evidence supports the possibility of a mountain lion, a Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologist may wish to visit the site for an evaluation.

The increasing number of big cat reports in the state coincides with the return of the bobcat to Kentucky’s landscape. Bobcats, considered rare as late as 1974, have increased in range and abundance throughout Kentucky. They are now found in every county in the state. Bobcats may have solid brown coats, which can cause people to misidentify them when glimpsed in low light. In addition, it is no coincidence that reports of mountain lions have increased with the popularity of the internet—which enables the unintentional and intentional sharing of inaccurate information.

black and white photograph of a mountain lion running through a forest at night — Radio-collared bobcat captured on remote camera, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

Mountain lion walking through a field — Mountain lion captured on a remote camera in Lincoln County, MO. Photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation

A good indicator of the presence of mountain lions is the number of animals killed on the road. In Florida, with its small population of panthers, about two dozen big cats are killed on the road each year. Kentucky’s tally is the one female kitten struck by a vehicle in Floyd County in 1997, and that animal was of captive origin.

Photo Courtesy Bill Lea

Mountain Lion Quick Facts:

The scientific name for a mountain lion is Puma concolor, which loosely translates to describe a cat with one color.
The mountain lion has many common names including cougar, puma, catamount, panther, and ghost cat.
Adults typically weigh 90–160 pounds with a robust tail that can be one-third as long as the cat’s body.
Mountain lions are large cats with short tawny brown fur and a lighter white underbelly.
Animals commonly misidentified as mountain lions include coyotes, bobcats, housecats, dogs and white-tailed deer.
“Black panthers” exist only as the melanistic (black) phases of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and jaguar (Panthera onca).
The nearest known reproducing populations are in Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Texas.
Dispersing males have been confirmed in Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri.
The presence of a lone mountain lion does not mean the area has an established population.

The rising popularity of motion-activated trail cameras deployed year-round throughout Kentucky’s woods and fields has yet to produce a confirmed image of a mountain lion in the state. Likewise, more than a quarter million hunters take to the state’s woods and fields each year for deer season and no one has taken a mountain lion.

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologists monitor the expansion of cougar populations from the western U.S. To help protect the public from escaped captive animals, the department has banned the possession of mountain lions as pets since 2005.

Evidence of Mountian Lions in Kentucky:

Mountian lion comparison table via the North Dakota Game and Fish Department — Illustration showing a size comparison of different sizes between the adult mountain lion, a large dog, a bobcat, and a common housecat. Graphic courtesy of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

Currently, no evidence suggests that Kentucky is home to wild mountain lions. Any mountain lion appearing in the state would likely be an escaped (or released) captive animal. Kentucky has banned the possession of mountain lions as pets since 2005. While western mountain lion populations continue to grow and their occurrence has been confirmed in the Midwest, young wandering males from those areas have not been documented in Kentucky.

Biologists at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are interested in documenting any credible evidence of mountain lions in the state. The following information will help avoid misidentification of an animal.

Photographs:

Remote trail cameras are a great tool for documenting mountain lions.
Adult male mountain lions stand about 30 inches at the shoulder. Use plants in the photo to help gauge the actual size of an animal.
The tail will be approximately one-third of the overall body length.
Mountain lions do not have spots.
Bobcats have a white spot behind each ear; mountain lions do not have these markings.

Tracks

Cats typically retract their claws when walking; claw marks will not be visible in tracks.
Cat toes are tear-drop shaped; dog or coyote tracks are more rounded.
Dog tracks are oval shaped while mountain lion tracks are usually wider than long.
Mountain lion tracks generally measure no more than 3 1/2" long.

Infographic showing a mountain lion's track against a dog's track — An infographic showing the difference between a Mountain Lion Track (left) and a Large Dog (right). Adult Mountain lion tracks are often 3.5 inches wide by 3 inches high. Dog tracks are highly variable in size.

Mountain lion tracks will not have even toe alignment. A dog's toes are typically even.

A Mountain lion's front heel has two lobes, while a dog's has one lobe ending at a point.

Mountain Lion tracks rarely show claw marks. Claw marks are visible with most canines.

A Mountain Lion's back heel has 3 rounded lobes, while a dog typically has two.

Hoaxes

In recent decades, the Internet has made generating mountain lion hoaxes exceptionally easy. A hoaxster typically uses a legitimate mountain lion photograph taken in another state and then claims the image was taken in Kentucky.

Some hoaxsters find it amusing to scare people with false claims backed by photo “evidence.” Others believe the information is accurate and spread without questioning whether it’s real. Following are photos used in Kentucky's most widespread mountain lion Internet hoaxes. Before forwarding a mountain lion “report” to your friends, scroll down and see if any photos match.

mountain lion dragging a deer next to a camera — Trail cam image showing a mountain lion dragging a deer carcass in front of a deer feeder.

HOAX:

This is one of the most widely circulated mountain lion hoax photographs. This image was claimed in Kentucky or several other states in the eastern U.S.

FACT:

This is an actual photo—but it was taken in South Texas on Feb. 15, 2009.

Man holding up a large paw of a mountain lion — There are two images, with the top image showing a man holding up a mountain lion carcass by the head and the bottom showing the man holding up a large paw.

HOAX:

Several people contacted the KDFWR's Information Center after seeing these photographs that claimed this mountain lion was killed around Cadiz in western Kentucky.

FACT:

This is a photo of a mountain lion struck and killed by a vehicle in northern Arizona in the winter of 2007.

mountain lion walking on a trail in a woods — Photograph showing a mountain lion walking a muddy trail in a wooded area.

HOAX:

The KDFWR Information Center received many emails about this 2011 photo, which is believed to have been taken in Eastern Kentucky.

FACT:

This is a photo of a mountain lion in western Montana, taken by a remote camera in the summer of 2010.

black leopard walking through a grassy field — The image shows a black leopard walking through tall grass.

HOAX:

The KDFWR has received many emails of the above image with repeated claims that the image was captured by a remote trail camera in Pendleton County, KY, in December 2013 and Whitley County, KY, in February 2015.

FACT:

This image is of a melanistic (black phase) leopard photographed on a remote camera within a captive facility in South Africa.