Mountain lion killed in Hot Spring County vehicle collision

SOCIAL HILL — A motorist struck and killed a mountain lion on Arkansas Highway 84 near Exit 91 of Interstate 30 in Hot Spring County at about 10 p.m. Wednesday. This is the first mountain lion confirmed dead in the wild in Arkansas since February 2024 and only the third confirmed dead since 1975.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission staff responded to the scene after the Hot Spring County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the road-killed animal and collected the large cat. The mountain lion was a healthy male that measured 83 inches from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose and weighed approximately 160 pounds during initial measurements. The AGFC is collecting samples from the animal and will send them to an independent laboratory for analysis to determine its origin and age.

Mountain lions were native to Arkansas until roughly 1920 when they were extirpated from the state through unregulated hunting and habitat loss. As mountain lion populations in Western and Midwestern states stabilized, sightings of Arkansas mountain lions once again began to be recorded. Although there has been no confirmed evidence of a reproducing population returning to Arkansas, the AGFC has confirmed 43 sightings of mountain lions in The Natural State since 2010. Some of these sightings may have been from a few individuals as they made their way through the state. To date, no confirmed sightings indicate a female mountain lion or evidence of cubs.

“Male mountain lions are known to roam, sometimes crossing multiple states,” Spencer Daniels, AGFC Large Carnivore Program coordinator, said.

The mountain lion killed in Bradley County in 2014 was tied back to a known population from the Black Hills Region of Wyoming and South Dakota. The 148-pound cat was caught on trail cameras in the northern portion of Arkansas a few weeks before it was shot by a hunter during deer season.

Many posts on social media in recent days have indicated a mountain lion in the area of DeGray Lake. Although the cat killed in the vehicle accident may be the one in these images, there is no way to confirm it is the same mountain lion.

“We would need DNA evidence from the sites where the photos were taken to do a comparison, and so far no one has been able to produce any hair or other genetic material to do such analysis,” Daniels said. “We have many unconfirmed sightings each year, but we need some sort of physical evidence such as hair, tracks, scat or photos to officially confirm a mountain lion was present. Many photos are sent in of bobcats, house cats, coyotes, dogs and other animals from trail cameras that are blurred or have no reference to determine true size, and later analysis concludes that the subject of the image is not a mountain lion.”

Mountain lions found in Arkansas since 1975
November 2014
A deer hunter shot and killed a 148-pound male mountain lion east of Hermitage in Bradley County. DNA concluded that this mountain lion was almost certainly the same as one sighted in Marion County in September 2014.

February 2024
A U.S. Forest Service employee discovered a dead mountain lion on the Sylamore Wildlife Management Area in Stone County. The 118-pound animal appeared to be old, evidenced by its emaciated condition and severely worn, broken and missing teeth. There were no signs of a bullet wound or injuries consistent with a vehicle collision.

####

CUTLINES:

LION ON ROAD
A healthy male mountain lion was killed on Arkansas Highway 84 near Social Hill at 10 p.m. Wednesday. 

INSPECTION
Dr. Catherine Love, performed a necropsy to gather data on the cougar.

HAIR SAMPLE
Hair samples were taken to attempt to identify the mountain lion’s lineage and origin. Tooth samples were also collected to determine age.