Warning as footage appears to show mountain lions roaming Pennsylvania—Cops

Police in York County, Pennsylvania, have issued a warning to residents after two big cats were reportedly spotted in a residential area.

On August 23, Spring Garden Township Police were dispatched to a nearby neighborhood area after receiving a report of a large cat sighting.

“Spring Garden Township Police were dispatched to the 1100 block of Southern Road for a report of two large cats that were observed earlier in the caller’s yard. The cats were last seen heading north towards Mount Rose Cemetery at approximately 11:35 a.m,” the police department said in a statement.

Newsweek reached out to Spring Garden Township Police Department via email for comment.

The sighting wasn’t just word of mouth, either, as one of the cats was caught on camera in a video shared by the police department on YouTube hours after the sighting.

Residents and viewers of the footage were quick to offer their thoughts and suggestions on the sighting.

Some commenters were convinced that the footage merely showed a house cat: “Omg, couldn’t be more obviously a house cat,” said one commenter on the YouTube video, while another said: “Lol that’s a house cat.”

But others disagreed, with one commenter saying: “I certainly wouldn’t want a house cat this big in my house! Consider the distance from the umbrella to the cat… that’s a large cat!!!”

Others said they thought it was likely a mountain lion, also known as a cougar or puma. Earlier this week multiple reports of mountain lion sightings in Duluth, Minnesota created a buzz as footage was shared online.

Mountain lions were once a common predator in Pennsylvania but a combination of habitat loss, prey loss and eradication programs by humans in the 1800s drove them from the state.

The big cats were hunted to extinction because they were seen as a threat to humans—an exaggerated fear as a 2011 study found that since 1890, there have been only 29 confirmed fatalities across the U.S. and Canada as a result of mountain lion attacks.

Mostly found west of the Mississippi in states like South Dakota, Texas, and California, there hasn’t been a confirmed mountain lion sighting in Pennsylvania since the 1930s when they were officially declared extinct east of Mississippi.

According to a paper published by Pennsylvania State University, almost all reported sightings of mountain lions in Pennsylvania have been other animals like bobcats, coyotes, raccoons or large domestic cats, and none have been confirmed as wild mountain lions.

Despite this, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and Spring Garden Township Police have advised caution after the sighting on August 23.

The commission is encouraging anyone sighting a mountain lion to report the location through their website or by calling the toll-free number 1-833-742-9453.