DECATUR — I have to admit I have a big imagination and I like mystery and intrigue. So when I heard another report a couple of weeks ago of a mountain lion being seen in the Decatur area, my curiosity was spiked.
In the past five years, I’ve heard six personal accounts of a mountain lion sighting in the Decatur area. At least three of the accounts were from people I trust beyond a shadow of a doubt. One of the reports included a photo that looked more like a bobcat to me, though the person taking the picture insisted the cat had a long tail.
Several years ago, I asked an Arkansas Game and Fish officer if there were any mountain lions in the state. He said he had heard reports of sightings from residents but no one from his office had ever seen one, and he was quick to point out that his colleagues spent more time in the woods than almost anyone else. He speculated that an occasional mountain lion might pass through the state but said, if someone saw one, it would likely be 70 miles away the next day.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Web site says that mountain lions have been extinct in the state since 1905.
“While it is possible that occasional sightings of freeranging mountain lions may occur in Arkansas, thereis no evidence that there has been a reproducing population of this species in the state since the early 1900s,” the AGFC Web site says. “Individual mountain lions are most likely escaped or released pets.”
A study by the Department of Biology at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock documented - with tracks, video or scat for evidence - a minimum of four mountain lions in Arkansas between 1996 and 2000, but said the animals’ origins were unknown. Between 1996 and 2000, the study also recorded 23 reports of sightings from biologists or wildlife professionals and 107 reports of sightings from unqualified but highly reliable individuals. Reported sightings were distributed throughout the state and included Benton, Washington and Crawford counties in northwestern Arkansas.
According to a 2001 report, there were approximately 101 captive mountain lions in Arkansas, and they all lived in areas where mountain lion sightings had occurred, including Benton County.
Mountain lion sightings appear to be tied to the white-tailed deer population, since deer are prey for the big cats.
According to the University of Arkansas, the whitetailed deer population had dwindled to about 300 animals in the 1930s, and it was widely believed that themountain lion was extirpated from the state at that time. But deer populations have increased since the 1940s, reaching approximately 1 million in 1999, the report said.
A 1997 report published by the Oklahoma Academy of Science concluded there is evidence that mountain lions are re-establishing themselves in their historic range in Oklahoma. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, there have been eight confirmed mountain lions in that state since 1994 and hundreds and hundreds of unconfirmed reports. However, the hard evidence of a breeding population - numerous tracks, prey kills, scrapes, road kills and photos from trail cameras - is missing, the state agency’s Web site says.
The conclusion in all three states is the same; there are a few wandering individual cats but no evidence of a viable population.
One thing is clear, mountain lions do roam far and wide. Biologists in South Dakota estimate that each year 20 or 25 yearling mountain lions leave the Black Hills. Some are equipped with radio collars and have traveled distances between 500 to 800 miles to states like Oklahoma and Minnesota.
Considering all the evidence, an occasional mountain lion probably wanders through northwest Arkansas. If you do see a mountain lion the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission is not interested in taking a report, according to its Web site. But come talk to me; I’ll listen with wideeyed fascination and a shiver
Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/20/2010