Mountain Lion Killed in Hot Spring County Marks Rare Occurrence; Bradley County Encounter in 2014 Still Remembered

A healthy male mountain lion was killed on Arkansas Highway 84 near Social Hill at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

SOCIAL HILL, Ark. – A mountain lion struck and killed by a motorist late Wednesday near Social Hill in Hot Spring County marks only the third confirmed mountain lion death in Arkansas since 1975 — and the incident has brought renewed attention to Bradley County’s own rare encounter over a decade ago.

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In November 2014, a deer hunter east of Hermitage made headlines when he shot and killed a 148-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Arkansas in decades. DNA testing by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) later linked that cat to a known population in the Black Hills Region of Wyoming and South Dakota. The animal had previously been caught on trail cameras in northern Arkansas before making its way south into Bradley County.

That 2014 case remains one of the most significant wildlife confirmations in local memory — an event that surprised many residents and marked the return, albeit temporary, of a species once thought to be gone from the Natural State. Before that, no confirmed mountain lion deaths had been recorded in Arkansas since 1975.

According to the AGFC, Wednesday’s incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Arkansas Highway 84 near Exit 91 off Interstate 30. The animal — a healthy 160-pound male measuring 83 inches from nose to tail — was collected by AGFC staff after being located by the Hot Spring County Sheriff’s Office. Samples have been sent to an independent laboratory to determine the cat’s origin and age.

“Male mountain lions are known to roam, sometimes crossing multiple states,” said Spencer Daniels, AGFC Large Carnivore Program coordinator.

Arkansas was once home to a native population of mountain lions until roughly 1920, when unregulated hunting and habitat loss led to their disappearance. Since 2010, the AGFC has confirmed 43 sightings across the state, but none have included evidence of a breeding population. To date, no confirmed sightings of females or cubs have been recorded.

In February 2024, a U.S. Forest Service employee discovered a dead mountain lion on the Sylamore Wildlife Management Area in Stone County. That animal appeared to have died of natural causes.

Daniels noted that while social media has circulated reports of mountain lion sightings around DeGray Lake in recent days, there is no way to confirm whether those images are of the same cat killed in the Hot Spring County accident. “We have many unconfirmed sightings each year,” Daniels said. “We need some sort of physical evidence such as hair, tracks, scat, or photos to officially confirm a mountain lion was present.”

For Bradley County residents who remember the 2014 case, Wednesday’s confirmation serves as another reminder that these rare predators still occasionally wander through Arkansas — even if they remain visitors rather than residents.

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