Mountain lion sightings rise in Kansas, here’s where they’ve been spotted

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Mountain lions, while still rare in the Sunflower State, are starting to become a more common sight in Kansas.

27 News got in touch with Matt Peek with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) this week to find out how many people have sighted the big cats in the state recently. The KDWP received 50 confirmed sightings of mountain lions from 2007 to 2023. But that number has more than doubled in the past two years to 110 reported mountain lion sightings since 2007.

Peek said that some of the sightings reported, such as the multitude of recent reports in Pottawatomie County, may have been the same cat seen multiple times by locals using trail cameras. He said it is also possible that more than one cat was present in the same county at the same time, leading to the increase in confirmed sightings.

“There’s not any evidence there’s one living there [Pottawatomie County] right now,” Peek said.

Peek said biologists are closely monitoring the movements of mountain lions following recent evidence of the animals reproducing in nearby Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conversation (ODWC) confirmed the presence of mountain lion kittens in two parts of the state in October and December 2024.

“The populations in neighboring states are doing well,” Peek said. “Long-established populations in Colorado and New Mexico are thriving.”

The KDWP has yet to find any similar evidence of mountain lions breeding or living in Kansas. Peek said that periods where multiple sightings were confirmed in Kansas in a short amount of time recently, such as in Sedgwick or Pottawatomie counties, could indicate that mountain lions may be sticking around in some areas for an extended period of time before leaving.

“We know there’s been multiple cats through there [Pottawatomie County],” Peek said. “One or more slowed down in that area. Why there instead of other areas of the state isn’t completely obvious.”

Peek said that as mountain lion populations become more established in neighboring states, the opportunities to see the big cats in the wild go up along with the chances they may start sticking around long-term in Kansas. He said the recent discovery of mountain lion kittens in Oklahoma could mean that Kansas isn’t far behind with getting its own native-born pumas.

“Again, there’s nowhere in the state where the evidence would indicate there’s one living there,” Peek said. “The odds of encountering one are still extremely low.”

The KDWP confirms mountain lion sightings mostly through help from the general public and the use of trail cameras. Peek said many of the big cats usually make a beeline through Kansas and are long gone by the time a sighting is confirmed.

“We’re still in the monitoring phase,” Peek said. “We try to keep track of where they’re confirmed.”

The KDWP provided a map and corresponding list displaying when and where mountain lions were confirmed to be in Kansas going back to 2007. You can find the full list and map below:

• 2025
  • Grant – July 19.
  • Riley – May 2.
  • Geary – April, 23.
  • Pottawatomie – March 26.
  • Pottawatomie – Feb. 11.
  • Sherman – Feb. 7.
• 2024
  • Pottawatomie – Dec. 14.
  • Doniphan – Dec. 4.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 17.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 16.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 9.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 7.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 7.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 7.
  • Sedgwick – Nov. 4.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 20.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 20.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 16.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 14.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 14.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 14.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 11.
  • Pottawatomie – Oct. 7.
  • Logan – Sept. 8.
  • Meade – Sept. 1.
  • Riley – July 5.
  • Jewell – July 3.
  • Pottawatomie – July 1.
  • Pottawatomie – May 28.
  • Pottawatomie – May 17.
  • Pottawatomie – April 15.
  • Pottawatomie – April 13.
  • Sedgwick – March 28.
  • Sedgwick – March 15.
  • Sedgwick – March 2.
  • Sedgwick – Feb. 27.
  • Sedgwick – Feb. 25.
  • McPherson – Feb. 15.
  • Saline – Feb. 13.
  • Marshall – Feb. 12.
  • Pottawatomie – Feb. 21.
  • Pottawatomie – Feb. 5.
  • Pottawatomie – Feb. 6.
  • Russel – Jan. 31.
• 2023
  • Pottawatomie – Dec. 22.
  • Marshall – Dec. 22.
  • Pottawatomie – Dec. 12.
  • Pottawatomie – Dec. 11.
  • Pottawatomie – Dec. 6.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 22.
  • Pottawatomie – Nov. 18.
  • Labette – Oct. 18.
  • Riley – Nov. 4.
  • Riley – Nov. 2.
  • Labette – Oct. 17.
  • Thomas – Oct. 20.
  • Labette – Oct. 13.
  • Allen – Oct. 9.
  • Marshall – July 28.
  • Pottawatomie – July 20.
  • Pottawatomie – July 19.
  • Riley – April 10.
  • Pottawatomie – April 8.
  • Jefferson – March 30.
  • Riley – Feb. 23.
• 2022
  • Chase – Nov. 26.
  • Morris – Nov. 4.
  • Elk – Oct. 14.
  • Chase – Oct. 13.
  • Wabaunsee – Oct. 4.
  • Shawnee – Sept. 26.
  • Riley – Sept. 12.
  • Nemaha – Aug. 29.
  • Leavenworth – May 11.
  • Washington – Feb. 18.
  • Republic – Feb. 17.
  • Republic – Feb. 12.
  • Ellis – Jan. 20.
  • Ellis – Jan. 18.
• 2021
  • Sedgwick – May 18.
  • Sedgwick – May 10.
  • Gray – Feb. 6.
  • Gove – Jan. 25.
• 2020
  • Kiowa – Dec. 24.
  • Barber – Dec. 20
  • Riley – Dec. 19.
  • Gove – Dec. 19.
  • Ellis – Dec. 13.
  • Osborne – Nov. 13.
  • Decatur – Oct. 27.
  • Comanche – Oct. 24.
  • Rawlins – Oct. 1.
  • Kiowa – Aug. 25.
• 2019
  • Rooks – Jan. 27.
• 2016
  • Riley – Dec. 2.
  • Geary – Nov. 9.
  • Wabaunsee – Nov. 24.
  • Shawnee – Nov. 20.
  • Rawlins – Sept. 16.
  • Ford – Oct. 23.
  • Reno – Sept. 4.
• 2015
  • Sumner – Sept. 9.
  • Barton – Aug. 23.
  • Ellis – Aug. 15.
  • Rooks – Aug. 3.
• 2014
  • Labette – Sept. 24.
• 2012
  • Stafford – Oct. 31.
  • Washington – Jan. 18.
• 2011
  • Atchison – Nov. 14.
• 2010
  • Nemaha – Dec. 7.
  • Republic – Oct. 19.
  • Cheyenne – March 26.
• 2009
  • Trego – Oct. 9.
• 2007
  • Barber – Nov. 1.

You can make reports of rare wildlife sightings in Kansas by heading to the KDWP’s website. To learn more about mountain lions in Kansas, click here.

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