Despite recent mountain lion sightings in Pennsylvania, officials said there are no such creatures roaming around the state.

The north central branch of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which includes Centre County, has received 40 to 50 suspected lion sightings so far this year, said Rick Macklem, the information education supervisor for north central region of the game commission.

"Almost every day in the last five years, we field cougar reports from all states east of known cougar range, " Mark Dowling, director of Eastern Cougar Network, said.

The game commission accounts for most of the cougar reports that come in to be a case of mistaken identity. Common animals such as coyotes, house cats and even golden retrievers are often assumed to be mountain lions.

"There is no such thing as a credible observer," Dowling said.

A couple months ago in Tioga County, the game commission received a report of a mountain lion killing a deer, but after examining the deer's carcass determined that it had been killed by a bobcat, not a mountain lion.

Officials from the game commission and the Eastern Cougar Network believe that there is no population of the mountain lion in the Pennsylvania area.

"There is zero evidence of a mountain lion population in Pennsylvania or its surrounding states," Dowling said.

Adam Jacobs (senior-wildlife and fisheries science) said he is an avid hunter and believes although mountain lions may be "few and far between," they still exist in parts of Pennsylvania.

"I've heard a few stories about people seeing them," Jacobs, an avid hunter, said. "I haven't had any personal contact with it, but it really does sound like they're here."

The mountain lion species that would be living on the East Coast would be six to seven feet in length and vary from 70 to 180 pounds. The cats are active during most times of day, but most commonly are seen at dusk and dawn, according to the Eastern Cougar Network.

Jackie Esposito, Penn State archivist, said lions stopped roaming central Pennsylvania in the 1880s. "The stuffed lion in the library is arguably one of last lions [captured] in Pennsylvania, " she said.