Nittany Lions Are Gone, but Never Forgotten

From a biodiversity standpoint, the eastern mountain lion is irrelevant. The victim of zealous hunting and disappearing forest habitat, it vanished from Pennsylvania in the 1870s. But irrelevance does not apply to this long-departed species at Penn State, where this magnificent predator is known as the Nittany Lion. As it turns out, at least one mountain lion still makes its home in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. A well-preserved stuffed lion killed in 1856--the same specimen that inspired Penn State's team name--now bares its considerable teeth from a special showcase in Pattee Library.

The stuffed lion, which is seven feet long, mirrors the history of Penn State. The trophy was mounted in 1856, just a year after the founding of the University, then donated to Penn State following its display at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Until 1929, the big cat was exhibited in Old Main, where legend has it that a 1907 Penn State cheerleader was inspired to name the University's sports teams after it. The animal then spent years as a teaching aid in the zoology department before being lent to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh in 1953.

The only remaining specimen of Puma concolor might still be moldering in a dark warehouse had Penn State wildlife professor Richard Yahner not decided to linger for cocktail hour at a 1992 professional meeting. "At this social hour, Duane Schlitter, who is curator of mammals at the Carnegie, said 'Hey Rich, you want your lion back?'" Yahner recalls. The lion in question, the same 140-year-old specimen shot by Samuel Brush in 1856 in Susquehanna County, had been sent on a one-year loan to the Carnegie in 1953 to be part of a wildlife display on species extinction. The animal stayed on display in Pittsburgh for 18 years, only to disappear into a warehouse for another three decades after the display was dismantled.

Yahner immediately realized the long-neglected feline represented more than just a skinned cat. "It was clear to me that we had to get it back to Penn State and find a way to protect it," he says. The lion returned to University Park in 1993, bearing a few bare spots, nicks, and unsightly seams. Catharine Hawks, a conservation specialist from the Smithsonian Institution, gave the bedraggled lion a museum-quality makeover. "It's still not in perfect shape," Yahner explains. "It's like restoring an antique chair. You should leave some of the scratches that give it character."

The lion now occupies a temporary home in a display case in Pattee Library. Eventually, it will be placed on permanent display in the main foyer of the library. "The permanent display will be a diorama with a background of Mount Nittany depicting the lion at the moment of its death," Yahner says. "We're planning a multimedia exhibit with interactive features and computerized information. The exhibit will address the history of the lion and Penn State, as well as natural resource conservation and its future in Pennsylvania. Visitors will get answers to such questions as 'Why was this animal shot?' and 'What is Penn State's role in conservation issues?'"

A fund has been established to endow the permanent display. Donations to the Original Nittany Lion Fund can be sent to the Development Office, University Libraries, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Donations are tax deductible. For more information, call (814) 865-0401.

–John Wall