You've surely heard of and quite possibly seen all 4 of these animals at some point in your life. Whether it's been on TV or you've traveled somewhere and have been lucky enough to find one in person. If you ever find one of these in Iowa, I would suggest calling the Iowa DNR immediately because they'll want to hear about it.

While moose aren't exactly Iowa staples, we've seen multiple moose in Iowa this year. You might never see one of these 4 animals in your backyard...but you never know! It could happen. It wasn't very long ago that these 4 animals roamed throughout the state of Iowa.

According to the Iowa DNR, most of the time when animal populations disappear from a certain landscape, it's due to loss of habitat because of human settlement, as well as overhunting. A lack of hunting laws can push animals out of certain areas.

Did you know these 4 animals used to live in Iowa?

Bison

Bison or Buffalo once lived throughout Iowa with the largest groups in the northwestern and north central part of the state. According to Iowa DNR, as settlement moved west, bison numbers fell. By the 1860s bison sightings had become pretty rare. If you see bison in Iowa today, they are part of a captive herd.

Elk

Most of the time when I see an Elk, it's when I'm watching Animal Planet. They're roaming through a wide open space and while they migrate to and from. Supposedly Elk once roamed Iowa's prairies. Once again, settlers and hunters pushed Elk out of Iowa. According to the Iowa DNR, the last reported historical sighting of a native elk was in 1871.

Black Bear

While it's possible black bear sightings in Iowa could be on the rise, we don't see these animals in large numbers. Black bears prefer woodland areas and you are most likely to only see one in eastern Iowa. Early settlers saw Black bears as a threat to crops, livestock, and families, which led to the killing of most bears. While the occasional adult Black bear from Wisconsin or Minnesota will venture into Iowa, the Iowa DNR reports no bears have been recorded taking up residence in Iowa since the mid-1800s.

Lynx 

3 big wild cats are native to Iowa and the only one that remains a full-time resident is the bobcat. Lynx could normally be found in northern Iowa and according to the Iowa DNR, early settlers would confuse the lynx and bobcat. They would put bounties on them and once again, they considered them a threat to livestock. Lynx disappeared from Iowa in the 1880s and have since moved to northern Minnesota and Canada. You may occasionally see a male mountain lion in Iowa but there are no documented established breed populations here.

It's pretty interesting to think at one point all 4 of these 4 legged creatures were just roaming around Iowa. Times were obviously different back then but I can't imagine what it'd be like to look out of my window and see a massive buffalo in my backyard. To see one of these animals in Iowa you either need to get pretty lucky or travel out of the state.