Prairie Region

The Prairie Region consists of the province of Manitoba (Canada) and the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. There are currently two documented populations of cougars in this region centered in the Black Hills of South Dakota and a recently documented one in the Badlands of North Dakota.

Credible cougar activity is concentrated in the Northern Prairie States.  Due to the great expanse of this region, The Cougar Network has broken it into two sub-regions (upper and lower).  Separate interactive maps are presented below for each sub-region.  A discussion of each can be found beneath the respective map. For detailed information on a particular incident, click on the dot. Dots with numbers inside indicate more than one incident at that location.

Manitoba provincial wildlife authorities believe that the province may harbor a small population of cougars (note that Manitoba is not shown on map, see "Big Picture" map for location of Manitoba confirmations just north of North Dakota border).  Two cougars were killed in separate incidents in late 2004. One of these animals was a female.  There was another one caught on film in January of 2007. Another  recent confirmation was made just across the border from North Dakota in May of 2008.

Confirmation Map

Confirmation Map (Upper Prairie Region)

Upper Prairie Region

The Cougar Network has documented a significant amount of cougar activity in the Northern Prairie region.  It appears that growing cougar populations in the western states of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado are spilling over into the adjacent Prairie States.  Western cougar populations have been resurgent since the 1960's, largely due to increased legal protections (i.e., game animal status) and prey populations (primarily deer and elk).  "There may now be more mountain lions in the West than there were before European settlement" reports Dr. Maurice Hornocker, a senior scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society.  It is believed that cougars tend to migrate using riparian corridors along streams and rivers, which effectively act as funnels for eastward range expansion. 

South Dakota has the earliest documented breeding population of cougars in the Prairie Region. The species had been nearly extirpated from the state in the early 1900's as a result of bounty programs.  Since receiving legal protection in 1978, a cougar population has become re-established in the Black Hills.  South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GF&P), working in cooperation with South Dakota State University, has been intensively studying mountain lions in the area since 1998.  To date, research indicates that the Black Hills currently support a population of approximately 140 breeding adults.  The population appears to be increasing, and transient cougars have occasionally turned up in other areas of the state. The Cougar Network has received records of cougar confirmations in the eastern part of the state dating back to 2000. No records were kept prior to 2000.

Mountain lions were removed from state's Threatened Species List and reclassified as a big game animal in 2003. The state established a hunting season on the cats in August 2005, with a beginning quota off 25 animals.

By the early 1900's, cougars were thought to have been eliminated from all of North Dakota. But, confirmed sightings began to surface in the 1990's after decades of apparent absence. The North Dakota Game & Fish Department (along with the USDA Wildlife Services Division) began to compile credible cougar reports, creating a database to track developments. On August 5, 2005, the NDG&FD announced that the state would be holding its first mountain lion hunting season in the fall of 2005. The stated goal of the hunt was to provide information about the animal's presence in the state. The analysis of this hunt and further research led NDG&FD to declare a breeding population present in the Badlands. See article.

According to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NPGC), cougars were extirpated from Nebraska by the end of the 19th century. Despite annual reports since the 1950's, no confirmed sighting was made in the state until the 1990's. In 1991 a deer was found killed by a mountain lion and shortly after, an adult mountain lion was shot by a hunter near Harrison (Sioux County) . Including these observations, 31 mountain lion reports were verified by the NGPC as of January 2007. In six cases lions ended up dead, either as the result of accidents or because they were shot. One 2003 confirmation was a live capture of a 108 lb. male within the city limits of Omaha.  The NPGC web page details evidence of cougars in the state. On March 26, 2004, NGPC adopted a  mountain lion response plan.

The majority of verified cougar reports in Nebraska come from the panhandle area. This region is close to Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota which have established populations.  According to Mace Hack, who heads the NGPC's wildlife research section, "The river corridors that connect Nebraska with Wyoming, Colorado and South Dakota are excellent funnels for mountain lions migrating into the state.  Through fire suppression we have had an increase of woodlands along the rivers that cross the state."  The NGPC suspects that a small population may now exist in the western portion of the state - such as the Fort Robinson and Wildcat Hills areas.  

Confirmation Map

Confirmation Map (Lower Prairie Region)

Lower Prairie Region

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) has provided The Cougar Network with information about five confirmations, four of which are mortalities from Cimarron County.  The fifth was a clear photo of a mountain lion. This county is in the extreme western portion of the state, adjacent to Colorado and New Mexico. The ODWC believes that there is an established population of cougars in this area. Cougar signs are found on a fairly regular basis (e.g. tracks and deer kills). Cats found in Cimarron County most likely represent a segment of existing populations in the adjacent areas of New Mexico and Colorado. 

The most recent confirmation was in late December, 2009 with a photo snapped by a game camera in the southeastern part of the state. On October 29, 2005, Ron Mills, the manager of the Black Mesa State Park in Cimarron County, encountered two mountain lions traveling together in the park. They were apparently stalking several deer that were bedded near the residence. The larger cat went into the brush before Mr. Mills was able to get a photo, but he was able to get a good photograph of the smaller cat as it walked away. He later confirmed tracks made by the larger animal. In a 2006 incident, a mountain lion was killed that had preyed on a farmer's goat. This was the first confirmed incident of a mountain lion killing livestock in Oklahoma.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&WS) has provided The Cougar Network with documentation that suggests there may be a few resident cougars in Southwestern Oklahoma. Cougars have been consistently verified over the past twenty years in Comanche County, most frequently in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge (WMNR) and the adjacent Fort Sill Military Reservation. Fort Sill and the WMWR together comprise 153,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat. This protected area appears to be ideal for cougars, as there is substantial prey base present of deer and elk (Kirk Johnson, personal communication). According to Ralph Bryant, the USF&WS' Deputy Refuge Manager at WMWR, "cougars have been resident in this area for many years and are regularly seen by refuge staff."

A recent confirmation (June, 2004) in Oklahoma is very interesting in that it is the longest migration of a collared cougar ever recorded. This cat was collared by South Dakota State University researchers in the Black Hills of South Dakota, moved into adjacent Wyoming and then ended up killed by a train near Red Rock, Oklahoma, a distance of about 667 miles if he went in a straight line. Most likely this cougar traveled almost 1000 miles following river corridors. SDSU researchers Daniel J. Thompson and Jonathon A Jenks published a very interesting research note on this incident entitled Long Distance Dispersal by a Subadult Male Cougar from the Black Hills, South Dakota which was published in the Journal of Wildlife Management. This research note is accessible from Dr. Jenk's web page at http://wfs.sdstate.edu/wfsdept/faculty/jjenks.htm.

Kansas has had a number of credible sightings and in October, 2009, a hunter got a clear photo in northwestern Kansas. In 2007, a landowner in south central Kansas shot and killed a mountain lion on his property. This was the first confirmation in Kansas in many decades.

Conclusions

Western cougar populations have been increasing since the 1960's, largely due to increased legal protection (i.e., game animal status) and expanded prey populations (primarily deer and elk).  There is substantial evidence that indicates the species is beginning to re-colonize the adjacent Prairie States. South Dakota has documented a growing population of cougars, while the states of Nebraska, North Dakota and Oklahoma believe that they may now have small resident populations.