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Conservation News

Wildlife Officials Can't Find Mountain Lion Spotted in Omaha Neighborhood

Records & Rarities

Large cat walking along a residential street at night near curb and parked car

Smiling bearded man in backward olive cap and gray shirt standing in sunlit forest with shoulder strap

Jordan SillarsJul 25, 2023

A home security video taken yesterday in Omaha, Nebraska, appears to show a mountain lion walking down a residential street.

The 16-second clip shows the big cat calmly pacing down a sidewalk at night while a thunderstorm lights up the night sky.

Posted by Tik Tok user “Nebraska Eddie,” the video has over 313,000 views since it was published July 24. “That’s a CAT,” the caption reads. “A mountain lion was spotted off 114th and Q in Omaha.”Click here to watch on TikTok.

lion 2

Later that day, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission confirmed the sighting in the southwestern part of Omaha.

“Law enforcement and wildlife professionals from Game and Parks and the Omaha Police Department have not yet been able to locate the mountain lion,” the agency said in a press release.

The state’s Mountain Lion Response Plan calls for lethal removal of a cat within the limits of a municipality, provided it can be safely carried out.

“Anyone who observes a mountain lion in person or on video should contact the local police department or Game and Parks immediately,” the agency said.

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Mountain lions have recolonized three areas in Nebraska, according to Nebraska Game and Parks: the Pine Ridge, the Niobrara River Valley, and the (aptly named) Wildcat Hills. These three areas are all located along the northern and western portions of the state while Omaha is located on the far eastern portion on the border with Iowa.

There is no stable population of mountain lions in Iowa, though the Iowa Department of Natural Resources receives occasionalreported sightings.

Mountain lion hunting has been approved in Nebraska since 2014, but only in the Pine Ridge area.

Mountain lions stay with their mothers until they are between 11 and 24 months of age, at which time they disperse to find their own territory. Subadults of both sexes can travel great distances in this effort, though males tend to travel farther than females. These dispersing lions can travelup to 300 milesfrom their birth area, which is usually how biologists explain sightings in areas without breeding populations.