Mountain lion season ends in Niobrara Unit

The 2024 mountain lion hunting season in Nebraska’s Niobrara Unit closed Jan. 7 when the harvest sublimit of one female was met.

A 6-year-old collared female lion was shot north of Long Pine. The season opened Jan. 2.

In accordance with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s management objectives, the harvest of mountain lions allows the population to remain resilient and healthy, while slowing growth in the Niobrara Unit, and halting growth or moderately reducing the population size in the Pine Ridge Unit.

The Niobrara Unit was added to the Pine Ridge Unit for mountain lion hunting for the first time for the 2024 season. The Niobrara Unit encompasses parts of Brown, Cherry, Keya Paha, Rock and Sheridan counties.

Mountain lion presence has been documented in the Niobrara River Valley of north-central Nebraska since 2001. There has been a resident reproducing population there since 2013 and information gathered through research suggests a population that is growing and will be resilient to harvest.

This is the state’s seventh mountain lion harvest season; the first was in 2014. No mountain lions have been harvested in the Pine Ridge Unit this season as of Jan. 7.

Season 1 in the Pine Ridge Unit will continue through the end of February. The season will end immediately if the annual harvest limit of four mountain lions or sub-limit of two females are reached. An auxiliary season would be held March 16 through the end of March if the annual harvest limit or female sub-limit are not reached during Season 1.

For more information about mountain lions in Nebraska, visit OutdoorNebraska.gov/mountainlions.