Officials warn of rare mountain lion sighting in southwest Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas wildlife officials have confirmed a credible report of a rare mountain lion sighting in a remote southwest area of the state.

The sighting was reported by a hunter who captured the animal on a game camera near Amity in Clark County, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Thursday.

The commission said there have only been 23 confirmed mountain lion sightings in the state since 2010.

Mountain lions, also known as pumas or cougars, roamed throughout much of Arkansas until around 1920, the AGFC said. The large felines are typically shy and reclusive and go out of their way to avoid humans.

A deer hunter shot and killed a 148-pound male mountain lion east of Hermitage in Bradley County in 2014.

It was the first time a mountain lion had been killed in Arkansas since 1975.

The hunter, Douglas W. Ramer, 62, of Bastrop, Louisiana, told wildlife officers the mountain lion was moving toward his deer stand and he felt threatened.

The AGFC said in 2015 that the animal's DNA revealed that it almost certainly came from a mountain lion sighting in September 2014 in Marion County, more than 180 miles away.

Wildlife officials said the mountain lion most likely originated in the Black Hills breeding population of Wyoming and South Dakota.

"The mountain lion traveled from Marion County to Bradley County in about six weeks before it was killed. That shows you how far a mountain lion can travel in a short period,” said AGFC Large Carnivore Biologist Myron Means. “Mountain lions are not game animals; just like with other animals that do not have a recognized hunting season, they are illegal to kill. A limited 'self-defense' exception exists in regulation when a person acts 'under a good faith belief' that he was protecting himself or other persons from imminent bodily harm or serious injury."

Anyone with verifiable evidence of a mountain lion sighting is encouraged to contact their nearest AGFC office.