Wildlife officials confirm mountain lion sighting near Arvilla

The Associated Press - Tuesday, December 07, 2004

BISMARCK, N.D.
 

State wildlife officials have confirmed the sighting of a mountain lion in Grand Forks County over the weekend.

It is the seventh confirmed sighting of one of the big cats in North Dakota this year, the state Game and Fish Department said.

The mountain lion sighted near Arvilla is wearing a radio collar attached by South Dakota State University researchers late last winter in the Black Hills. That enables wildlife officials to track the cat.

"This is a unique opportunity to learn something about mountain lion movement," said Randy Kreil, chief of the Game and Fish wildlife division. "As long as it's not causing problems, we'll continue to monitor it closely."

Jacquie Ermer, a department furbearer biologist, said the young male is probably looking for a female companion and a new territory to establish, and most likely will not stay around long.

The SDSU research project is centered in the Black Hills near Rapid City, where mountain lions are well established, and is investigating young mountain lion dispersal and survival. The last confirmed sighting of the mountain lion seen in Grand Forks County had been three months ago in the Slim Buttes area of Harding County in northwestern South Dakota.

Another collared male lion from the SDSU study was killed in Oklahoma last summer, apparently by a train, officials said.

Mountain lions are native to North Dakota but had disappeared by 1900, Game and Fish said. Infrequent sightings began to occur again in the 1950s. In recent years, reported sightings have become more frequent.

There have been 58 reported mountain lion sightings in North Dakota this year, but most have not been officially confirmed. The other confirmed sightings were in the western part of the state, and in the Turtle Mountains in the north.