A security video recorded a young mountain lion walking around a shed on property near 17th Street and Kennedy along Labette Creek on Oct. 13. The sighting was reported to Parsons police who reported it to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks on Monday. KDWP visited the location and was satisfied that the animal, likely between 1 and 3 years old, had moved on. Matt Peek, wildlife research biologist for KDWP, told the Sun the lion is likely the same animal seen southeast of Iola on Oct. 9 based on distance and the timing of the two confirmations. “We were not able to determine age or sex, but most of the lions that have dispersed across the Midwest like this have been 1 to 3-year-old males. We’ve had over 60 confirmations since 2007, including nine in 2023,” Peek said. He said if biologists are able to collect DNA left behind by the cats, they would be able to tell what state they came from.
Source: Parsons Sun
