DNA results released from the Department of Conservation have revealed that all the recent mountain lions sighted in the state roamed from other states.

The results, announced Tuesday, showed that some of the mountain  lions came as far away as South Dakota and Montana.

“Large carnivores have big home ranges,” says Resource Scientist Jeff Beringer, “and males disperse long distances in search of females. It seems logical that the rate of dispersal would be greater when cats have repopulated available habitat in neighboring states, but there is also an innate drive to travel.”

Four were tested out of 14 sightings last year.  The four came from three different states, according to the Conservation Department.

DNA tests tied two young male cougars to the Black Hills area of South Dakota. One was shot by a raccoon hunter in Ray County in January 2011. A Texas County homeowner shot the other one in September.

DNA from the young male mountain lion killed by coyote hunters in Macon County in January 2011was traced to central Montana. The remaining cougar, which left a tuft of hair on a barbed-wire fence after crossing the road in front of a motorist in Oregon County, was related to mountain lions from Colorado. DNA showed the Oregon County cat also was a male.

2011 remains puzzling in Missouri’s mountain-lion history. The largest number of sightings documented by MDC in any previous year was two, in 2006 and 2010. MDC has confirmed two sightings so far this year.

“Increased public awareness and the growing popularity of trail cameras might account for part of the increase in sightings,” says Beringer, “but last year’s spike is hard to explain. What we now know for sure is that mountain lions are traveling a long way to get here.”

While all wildlife is protected under regulations, the regulations do allow Missourians to kill such animals when the are killing livestock or domestic animals or threatening human safety.  

The Department maintains it has not, and will not release mountain lions in Missouri.