LITTLE ROCK (KFSM)- A deer hunter shot and killed a mountain lion Saturday (Nov. 8) morning near Hermitage in Bradley County, according to a post on the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Facebook page.
The mountain lion was a male, weighing 148 pounds.
The last time a mountain lion had been killed in Arkansas was in 1975 in Logan County.
According to the post, the hunter, Douglas W. Ramer, 62, of Bastrop, Louisiana, told wildlife officers, the mountain lion was approaching his deer stand and Ramer felt threatened. Per Arkansas Game and Fish Commission regulations, non-game wildlife, with the exception of migratory birds and endangered species, that present a reasonable threat to people or property may be shot during daylight hours or trapped without a depredation permit.
Ramer, who was hunting on private property, reported the incident to wildlife officers Wednesday (Nov. 12). So far, he has not been charged with violating regulations, but officers are investigating.
The mountain lion carcass was given to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists. Hair from the animal will be sent to a laboratory in Montana for DNA testing, which can often show an animal’s area of birth.
Mountain lions, which are also known as pumas and cougars, lived throughout Arkansas until about 1920. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission offered bounties and hired trappers to control predator populations between 1927 and 1929. More than 250 wolves and 420 bobcats were killed, but no mountain lions were brought in.
There have been five confirmed sightings of mountain lions in Arkansas in the last five years, although a breeding population has not been verified.
“I would expect, over the course of the next several years, that we’ll be seeing more mountain lions in the state,” said Myron Means of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. “Over the past decade, the Missouri Department of Conservation has seen an increase in mountain lion sightings and I would expect Arkansas will probably follow suit.”
A few mountain lion sightings have also been reported in Oklahoma and Louisiana in recent years.
