Arkansas Game and Fish testing mountain lion carcass discovered in north Arkansas
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Teams from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are testing the carcass of a mountain lion found recently by a U.S. Forest Service employee.
The employee found a dead mountain lion recently in the Sylamore Wildlife Management Area in Stone County. The animal was moderately decomposed, weighing 118 pounds and approximately 85 inches long, Arkansas Game and Fish officials said.
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Officials said an examination was performed on the animal at the AGFC Calico Rock office on Thursday. No bullet wound was found, nor was there evidence of it being hit by a car. AGFC State Wildlife Veterinarian Jenn Ballard said the animal had severely worn, broken, and missing teeth and its stomach was empty.
AGFC officials said further examination will involve testing for viruses and toxins. Tissue from the animal will also be sent to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at the University of California – Davis.
Mountain lion sighting confirmed near Amity in southwest Arkansas
According to AGFC, this is the second mountain lion carcass found in the state in the past 10 years after a deer hunter shot and killed a male mountain lion in 2014. Officials said that the 148-pound animal’s DNA showed it had likely originated in the Black Hills breeding population of Wyoming and South Dakota.
The 2014 event was the first time a mountain lion had been killed in Arkansas since 1975, according to AGFC records.
A mountain lion was spotted on a game camera in Amity last November, one of 23 confirmed mountain lion sightings in the Natural State since 2010.
Mountain lion sighting confirmed near Amity in southwest Arkansas
Mountain lions are shy and reclusive and have learned to avoid people, officials said, adding that they tend to run away if they see or hear humans and attack only rarely.
AGFC asks if anyone has verifiable evidence of a mountain lion sighting to contact their nearest AGFC office.
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