Missouri Tracks 128 Mountain Lion Sightings Over 32 Years

The state of Missouri officially says that mountain lions are not native to the state, but that doesn't mean big cats aren't reported. In fact, you can see the locations and circumstances for 128 mountain lion sightings that have happened in Missouri dating back to 1994.

The Missouri Department of Conservation keeps an exhaustive list of where and when mountain lions are spotted in the state. Here are the dates, county location and method of confirmation for the 128 mountain lions that have been confirmed in Missouri since 1994 to present day:

• Saturday, Jan 1, 1994 - Carter - Female mountain lion was treed and shot by two raccoon hunters near Peck Ranch Conservation Area. Federal authorities eventually fined each hunter $2,000
• Monday, Nov 4, 1996 - Reynolds - Video -  conservation agent recorded video of a mountain lion with a deer carcass
• Wednesday, Jan 1, 1997 - Christian - Video from property owner
• Monday, Jan 11, 1999 - Texas - Tracks - A mountain lion was treed by a rabbit hunter's dogs and tracks in the snow were photographed
• Sunday, Dec 31, 2000 - Lewis - Video - Recorded by a deer hunter in a tree stand
• Friday, Dec 21, 2001 - Pulaski - Photo from a game camera
• Tuesday, Oct 15, 2002 - Clay - 2 to 3 year old male was killed in a vehicle collision
• Monday, Aug 11, 2003 - Callaway - 1.5 year old male was killed in a vehicle collision
• Saturday, Nov 18, 2006 - Shannon - Deer carcass characteristic of a mountain lion were found
• Thursday, Dec 7, 2006 - Livingston - Photos taken by a game camera
• Friday, Nov 26, 2010 - Platte - Photo taken by private landowner of a treed mountain lion
• Wednesday, Dec 29, 2010 - Linn - Photos taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Jan 2, 2011 - Ray - Male mountain lion treed and shot by raccoon hunters
• Wednesday, Jan 12, 2011 - St. Louis - Photos taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Jan 22, 2011 - Macon - Male mountain lion shot by coyote hunters
• Wednesday, Mar 9, 2011 - Oregon - Citizen reported a mountain lion jumped through a fence and sent in hairs suspected to be from the lion
• Wednesday, Apr 20, 2011 - Macon - Citizen submitted photos of tracks in a muddy creek bed
• Sunday, Jul 3, 2011 - Gasconade - Eye-witness report supplemented with hair samples
• Friday, Jul 29, 2011 - Shannon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Aug 17, 2011 - Carter - Eye-witness report supplemented with hair samples
• Tuesday, Aug 30, 2011 - Oregon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Sep 4, 2011 Shannon - Photos taken by a game camera at Rocky Creek Conservation Area
• Monday, Sep 5, 2011 - Texas - Subadult male mountain lion shot by a landowner
• Monday, Sep 5, 2011 - Reynolds - Photos taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Sep 10, 2011 - Shannon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Sep 20, 2011 - Shannon- Photos taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 - Wayne - Photograph of a track in the mud taken by MDC staff was verified
• Wednesday, Jan 4, 2012 - Reynolds - Private landowner incidentally captured a live, male mountain lion in a large, cage-type trap
• Friday, Jan 27, 2012 - Reynolds - Photos taken by a game camera
• Monday, Apr 2, 2012 - Grundy - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Sep 4, 2012 - Shannon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Sep 11, 2012 - Grundy - Photos taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Oct 10, 2012 - Shannon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Oct 28, 2012 - Ripley - Photos taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012 - Taney - Photos taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Dec 2, 2012 - Dekalb - Photos taken by a game camera
• Friday, Dec 21, 2012 - Carter - Photos taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Dec 23, 2012 - Warren - Photos taken by a game camera
• Thursday, Jan 3, 2013 - Warren - Photos taken by a game camera
• Monday, Feb 4, 2013 - Carter - Photos taken by a game camera at Peck Ranch Conservation Area
• Saturday, Jun 29, 2013 - Pulaski - Photos taken by a game camera
• Monday, Aug 26, 2013 - Carter - Photos taken by a game camera at Peck Ranch Conservation Area
• Sunday, Sep 29, 2013 - Shannon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Oct 12, 2013 - Barry - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Oct 15, 2013 - Reynolds - Photos taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Nov 20, 2013 - Madison - Photos taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Mar 1, 2014 - Carter - Photos taken by a game camera
• Thursday, Jun 19, 2014 - Oregon - Photos taken by a game camera
• Thursday, Oct 16, 2014 - Madison - Photos taken by a game camera
• Thursday, Oct 23, 2014 - Carter - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Nov 18, 2014 - Douglas - Photos taken by a game camera
• Friday, Nov 21, 2014 - Taney - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Feb 3, 2015 - Harrison - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, May 12, 2015 - Laclede - Male mountain lion killed in a vehicle collision
• Monday, May 18, 2015 - Shannon - Citizen reported mountain lion tracks near the Current River
• Saturday, Aug 8, 2015 - Carter - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera and a kill site of an 80 lb. elk calf with characteristics of a mountain lion kill
• Tuesday, Oct 13, 2015 - Miller - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Friday, Nov 27, 2015 - Warren - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Dec 16, 2015 - Reynolds - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Friday, Dec 18, 2015 - Boone - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Dec 16, 2015 - Reynolds - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Friday, Dec 18, 2015 - Boone - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Monday, Jan 11, 2016 - Henry - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Friday, Feb 5, 2016 - Shannon - Three year old cow elk, suspected to be affected by brain worm, was killed by a mountain lion
• Saturday, Apr 16, 2016 - Shannon - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Apr 24, 2016 - St. Clair - Mountain lion found dead on Harry S. Truman Reservoir shoreline by an angler
• Tuesday, Dec 20, 2016 - Oregon - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Nov 20, 2016 - Reynolds - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Jan 21, 2017 - Warren - Male mountain lion killed in a vehicle collision
• Saturday, Jan 7, 2017 - Pike - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Jan 3, 2017 - Ralls - Video of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Sep 27, 2017 - Madison - Photos taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Sep 26, 2017 - Iron - Photos taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 - Shannon - Elk carcass tracks
• Saturday, Jul 14, 2018 - Madison - Adult deer was killed by a mountain lion
• Friday, Aug 17, 2018 - Shannon - Two elk calves were killed by a mountain lion
• Sunday, Sep 15, 2019  - Texas - Two photos of a mountain lion taken by game cameras ~1.5 miles apart and within 3 hours of each other
• Friday, Sep 27, 2019 - Texas - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Oct 30, 2019 - Texas - Video of a mountain lion taken by a hunter
• Saturday, Nov 2, 2019 - Texas - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Nov 12, 2019 - Carter - Photos of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Dec 28, 2019 - Andrew - Video of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Dec 31, 2019 - Texas  - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Feb 12, 2020 - Shannon - Photo DNA analysis confirmed that this individual was the same male lion that was initially captured in a coyote trap in 2012, and genetically recaptured in 2018
• Thursday, Feb 20, 2020 - Texas - An adult deer was been killed by a mountain lion
• Monday, Mar 1, 2021 - Benton - Video of mountain lion taken by home security camera
• Wednesday, Mar 10, 2021 - Barton - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Wednesday, Mar 31, 2021 - Laclede - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Saturday, Jun 5, 2021 - Shannon - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Jun 6, 2021 - Franklin - Video of mountain lion taken by home security camera
• Monday, Sep 27, 2021 - Butler - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Friday, Nov 5, 2021 - Reynolds - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Sunday, Nov 7, 2021 - Montgomery - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Nov 7, 2021 - Montgomery - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Nov 14, 2021 - St. Francois - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Nov 30, 2021 - Montgomery - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Saturday, Dec 4, 2021 - Callaway - Video of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Tuesday, Dec 7, 2021 - Ste. Genevieve - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Dec 14, 2021 - Washington - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Dec 22, 2021 - Reynolds - Male mountain lion killed in a vehicle collision
• Saturday, May 28, 2022 - Shannon - Adult elk was killed by a mountain lion
• Sunday, Oct 30, 2022 - Livingston - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Friday, Nov 11, 2022 - Ray - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Nov 20, 2022 - Grundy - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Monday, Nov 7, 2022 - Iron - Video of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Dec 28, 2022 - Shelby - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Jan 3, 2023 - Boone - Video of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Monday, Jan 9, 2023 - Callaway - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 - Montgomery - Video of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Monday, Jan 23, 2023 - Franklin - Mountain lion struck and injured in a vehicle collision. Animal could not be found after the incident
• Saturday, Jan 21, 2023 - Reynolds - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, Jan 22, 2023 - Franklin - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Thursday, Feb 2, 2023 - Franklin - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Saturday, Feb 25, 2023 - Dallas - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Mar 7, 2023 - Dallas - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera - Track also found
• Sunday, Jan 15, 2023 - Montgomery - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Wednesday, Apr 5, 2023 - Dallas - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Sunday, May 28, 2023 - Reynolds - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Sep 12, 2023 - Shannon - Adult elk was killed by a mountain lion
• Monday, Nov 13, 2023 - Lincoln - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Thursday, Jan 4, 2024 - Pulaski - Video of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Tuesday, Feb 13, 2024 - Maries - Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera
• Friday, Oct 18, 2024 - Monroe - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Sunday, Nov 3, 2024 - Crawford - Video of mountain lion taken by security camera
• Saturday, Nov 16, 2024 - Iron Male - Photo evidence and carcass of mountain lion were obtained by MDC protection unit
• Thursday, Mar 6, 2025 - Putnam - Photo of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Friday, Sep 19, 2025 - Andrew - Photos of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Monday, Sep 22, 2025 - Buchanan - Photos of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025 - Scotland - Video of mountain lion taken by game camera
• Friday, Oct 24, 2025 - Saline - Video of mountain lion taken by drone

The Missouri Department of Conservation appears to use several different confirmation methods including photos, videos and then an investigation of tracks in the area where a mountain lion has been reported. As you can see by the list, mountain lions have been reported in nearly every part of the state including a recent northeast Missouri sighting. I won't debate the state authorities over whether mountain lions have a habitat in Missouri, but if that's not the case there certainly are a lot of these big cats traveling over our land.