Not the first and not the last im sure.

DES MOINES, Iowa —
Des Moines police have issued a safety alert on social media. Officers are reviwing a report of a mountain lion sighting.

"The DMPD is currently investigating a report of a mountain lion sighting within the City. Video from the area of 31st and I-235 is being examined to confirm the presence of the animal. Additional information will be shared as it is confirmed. Please exercise an abundance of caution with children and pets in this area."

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Iowa Department of Natural Resources have reviewed the images and confirmed that the sighting is a mountain lion.

KCCI 8 News has a crew in the area. Police are increasing their presence in the area while children go to school.

Neighbors in the area tell KCCI the cat was seen on video on Iola Avenue.

They've been slowly re-establishing in Iowa for several years now.  For the longest time DNR denied their existence until several were hit by cars.  One roaming around the metro is not a good thing.  Certainly not for pet owners.  Not sure how serious the threat to children might be.  There are cases of human attacks but fortunately those are quite rare.

Best guess is most are young males that got pushed out of their original territory.

I was talking to my sister in law about this, she said it was within 5 blocks of her house. I told her to buy deer slugs and have her husband shoot it in defense of life and property.

ETA-mostly kidding, of course. I don't think I'd want to risk shooting an animal in Des Moines, unless it already bit me.

It's an alpha predator. If someone doesn't shoot it, and it stays in populated areas, it is going to kill someone eventually.  There's a reason they are not protected in Iowa.
If it already bit you, you're probably dead.

Very true...and if I saw it in the 266 person town I live in I wouldn't be worried, and my neighbord would thank me for shooting it. Des Moines, i think I'll take my chances with the cat.

I hear you on that. When I was in Washington state in the service I was deer hunting in the snow line above 5000'. Found tracks I wasn't totally sure of at the time but believed them to be a lion. When my buddy who grew up in Montana got up there he confirmed that they were. I spent more time watching my back up there than hunting. Rock faces and outcroppings, huge fir tree stumps that were cut taller than I was and probably over 15' in diameter along with boulders also taller than me. There were deer up there due to the hunting pressure lower down the mountain and that was why the lion was there.