This morning while cruising the web for Black Hills – related news, I found an interesting story from Minnesota about a mountain lion on the loose.

Around here, mountain lions are in the news fairly often and have come to be known as established residents of the hills. Sure, there are widely varying opinions of them, but as residents of the Black Hills, we all – at the very least – know that they are in the area.

Places like Minnesota, however, don’t claim to have an established breeding population of mountain lions and are not nearly as used to the big cats. So, when one is seen, it tends to make pretty big news and gets people fairly worked-up.

Over the weekend, in the northern Twin Cities suburb of Champlin, a police officer actually recorded a mountain lion with his on-dash camera system. His footage of the big cat can be viewed here. Even in the Black Hills, mountain lion sightings are rare, but to actually catch one on video is quite the feat!

The Minnesota natural resource folks noted that the lion seen in Champlin appears to be quite heavy and not the normally lean and toned feline that is more common in the wild. Because of that, Minnesota officials are wondering if the cat might have been captive-held and has either escaped or been set free.

The other likely source of the cat is from the population here in the Black Hills. A while back I talked with South Dakota Game Fish & Parks regional supervisor, Mike Kintigh about the Black Hills mountain lion population.

Kintigh said that more often than not, when a Black Hills lion is found in a neighboring state to the east, it’s a young male. Young male cats tend to get pushed out of the hills by older, more mature lions and are often just looking for a territory to call their own.

If this cat stays in the residential areas, its future could be grim. Similar to South Dakota, Minnesota DNR follows quite a “no questions asked” policy when they feel animals could present a safety hazard to humans.

Whether this Minnesota lion is a transplant from here in the hills or not, the residents of Champlin are watching closely to see what happens to it – and so am I. I’m hoping this wayward cat quietly moves on and everyone stays safe.