Mountain Lion, Cougar, or Puma

Fish and Game wants to hear from hunters on big game seasons for 2019-20

Idaho Fish and Game wants to hear from hunters on proposed changes to deer, elk, pronghorn, black bear, mountain lion and wolf seasons for 2019-2020.  Hunters are encouraged to attend open house meetings in Salmon and Challis to provide their comments.

Open houses will be held at the following:

Mountain Lion Take Season Closed in Units 70, 73, and 73A in Southeast Idaho

The take season for mountain lion has closed in Game Management Units 70, 73, and 73A in southeast Idaho effective January 7, 2019. 2017-2018 Big Game Seasons and Rules states that the mountain lion take season is to be closed when 8 female mountain lions have been harvested. This harvest limit has been met. dog training season will remain open in these units through March 31, 2019.

Hunters will be allowed to keep mountain lions taken in Units 70, 73, and 73A prior to January 7, 2019, and must report them within 5 days of harvest.

Fish and Game Dispatches Mountain Lion in Lava Hot Springs

A mountain lion was dispatched by Idaho Department Fish and Game in the town of Lava Hot Springs just before midnight on January 4.

Bannock County Sheriff’s Office notified Idaho Fish and Game at 6:47 pm Friday night that a mountain lion had been observed walking through Lava Hot Springs, even coming within several feet of people according to multiple reports.

Mountain lion captured and euthanized in Coeur d'Alene

Idaho Fish and Game officials on Monday, Sept. 24 captured and euthanized a mountain lion that was found in a tree in Coeur d’Alene near the Kootenai Medical Center. The cat was euthanized to protect public safety.

Facts and Updates on Mountain Lion Sightings in Pocatello/Chubbuck Areas

More Mountain Lion Sightings Reported in Pocatello

More Mountain Lion Sightings Reported in Pocatello

Idaho Department of Fish and Game responded to two reports of mountain lion sightings in the vicinity of Red Hill Trail behind Mountain View Cemetery in Pocatello over the weekend. IDFG worked with officials from both Idaho State University Public Safety and personnel from the City of Pocatello to investigate the reports. At this time, the sightings have not been confirmed.

Mountain lion found in Pocatello tranquilized and relocated

On the morning of Friday, May 11, Fish and Game personnel tranquilized and removed an adult male mountain lion near the campus of Idaho State University in Pocatello.  It was transported and released to a remote location in southeast Idaho the same day.

Mountain lion management includes close encounters with cats

Idaho Fish and Game conservation officers recently recorded a video when they released a lion from a trap in the Clearwater Region.

Mountain Lion Killed near Bruneau Elementary School

A mountain lion that spent a portion of the morning in a tree on the Bruneau Elementary School grounds was later shot and killed.

The cat was spotted about 8:00am and school authorities immediately locked the school down and contacted the Fish and Game Office in Nampa. “We did not have a conservation officer immediately available to respond,” Fish and Game wildlife manager Rick Ward noted. “We made a call to the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office and requested that Sheriff’s office personnel dispatch the cat as a matter of public safety.”

Mountain lions in Wood River Valley

SUN VALLEY- This winter has been an interesting one for the Wood River Valley. After last year’s record snowfall, this year has nearly been the opposite, with very little snow.

Fewer elk and mule deer are calling the river bottoms home due to the open hillsides, but many of the mountain lions that prey on them are still trying to carve out a living where they were finding abundant deer and elk populations last winter.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game recently lethally removed two lions, one from the Freidman Memorial Airport and one from the Gimlet subdivision.