Wildlife officials have confirmed a third mountain lion sighting in North Texas within three weeks, with the most recent incident captured on a surveillance camera in a Plano alley.
It’s unclear whether this is the same mountain lion previously reported in Lake Dallas and western Frisco. However, all three sightings have occurred within a relatively small area of Denton and Collin counties, following an eastward path.
A similar pattern of three sightings took place in late 2020, between Nov. 22 and Dec. 12, in Dallas, Collin and Hunt counties. At the time of the first incident, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists speculated that the mountain lion was probably a transient juvenile male passing through the area in search of a new home range. Although biologists initially thought it was unlikely that the animal would be seen again, it was spotted twice more during that time.
This year there have been 71 mountain lion sightings. The highest number reported in a single year was 122 in 2016, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.