An Illinois conservation officer shot and killed a cougar that weighed more than 100 pounds on a farm near Morrison, Illinois.
Farm owners reported seeing a large cat running from a corn field toward their home and outbuildings Wednesday, November 20, 2013.
An Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police Officer found a cougar in a concrete tunnel beneath a corn crib.
“After consulting with the farm owner’s wife and IDNR law enforcement and wildlife personnel, and at the farm owner’s request, it was determined that the cougar should be euthanized,” said a spokesman for the Illinois DNR. The animal appeared to weigh more than 100 pounds and was between 5-1/2 and six feet long.
The officer used his service rifle to shoot and killed the cougar.
The DNR says cougars, also known as mountain lions, are not protected by Illinois Wildlife Code. Cougars found in Illinois are thought to be transient and no resident cougar population is believed to exist in the state.
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