Kansas mountain lions are returning. Here's what to know

Farmers and ranchers eradicated mountain lions from Kansas in the early 20th century, but now the big cats are coming back.

When you think of Kansas, you probably don't think of mountains — or mountain lions.

But in recent years, the number of sightings of mountain lions in the state has skyrocketed. In the past two years, there have been 117 sightings of the big cats in the state, more than the previous 15 years combined, said Jon Beckmann, a wildlife supervisor for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

As mountain lion populations continue to become reestablished in the Great Plains, increasing across the four states that border Kansas, it's likely that they will rise in this state as well, he said.

"For the most part at this point, our lions are just, we think, dispersed, com