Mountain Lion hit by Motorist/MO

[bagger321]

Initial examination of road kill mountain lion indicates the animal was wild.
 
Cougar's physical condition and stomach contents support MDC belief that the cat was free-ranging.
 
JEFFERSON CITY --A necropsy of the mountain lion killed Monday night by a motorists in Callaway County indicates the animal migrated to Central Missouri from the west. That is the preliminary finding of a team of Missouri Department of Conservation wildlife biologists who examined the cat Wednesday.

"Our examination found nothing that indicates the mountain lion had been in captivity," said Conservation Department Wildlife Research Biologist Dave Hamilton. "It had no tags, tattoos or wear on its claws and pads that is typical of animals that have been kept in concrete-floored enclosures. Its stomach contained a single gray squirrel, which probably means it was feeding in the wild rather than being fed by humans."

Other findings of the necropsy are as follows:
* The animal likely was 1 1/2-to-2 years-old based on the presences of dark barring on the fur, which normally disappears by age 3.
* The overall health of the animal was good. Its death probably was instantaneous, as the impact with the automobile separated the cat's neck vertebrae and broke both its front legs.
* The pad of the cat's left forepaw was missing in addition to the missing toes from that paw. It is possible that the injury was sustained in a fight with a larger mountain lion or perhaps a bear several months ago, perhaps even a year ago.

Tissue samples taken from the mountain lion have been sent to a lab for DNA testing. Animal hairs contained in the cat's lower intestine also are being sent to a lab for identification. It will be several weeks to several months before the Conservation Department receives the lab results.

Hamilton said as mountain lion populations continue to grow in western states cougar sighting may increase in Missouri and other Midwestern states. He said young males often wander long distances in search of areas not already occupied by adult male lions.

Since 1994 eight instances of mountain lion have been confirmed by the Conservation Department Mountain Lion Response Team (MLRT). The MLRT investigates all credible reports of mountain lions sightings. To report a mountain lion sighting call the nearest conservation agent or Conservation Department office.

Missouri Dept. of Conservation

[John Y Cannuck]

I suspect the authorities down there have been saying the same as the ones up here. The cougars are not wild, they are escaped pets etc, etc.

Sounds like you finally have irrefutable proof. Now if we could have a huntable population of cougars, without the associated problems to deer, cattle, sheep, and humans....

[Wildcat Crazy]

A few years ago,my next door neighbor was a 30 year career man with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He told me that they had over 600 cougers tagged, east of the Mississippi.He told me that every state in the eastern part of the U.S.,except Rhode Island,had tagged cougers running wild.

    He would not admit that they were stocked,but if what he said is true,it would seem to me to be the only plausible explanation.

    I lived in the boonies in S.Florida for 21 years and only seen 6 of them in the wild,although I have seen their tracks ,while hunting in the glades.

    FWIW,
     WC

[HogFan]

Well, at least MO is not denying it like Arkansas does. On my cousins farm they had a cougar sighting, along with many others and theyGame and Fish denied it. My father grew up about 30 miles from the area, and he used to tell me of sightings he saw as a young guy when he worked in a saw mill. They are there, just the Game and Fish won't fess up to it.

HogFan