Image via WikipediaMOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo -- A landowner’s trail camera has confirmed a mountain lion sighting in Shannon County. The landowner emailed the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Mountain Lion Response Team on Aug. 6 with a camera image of a mountain lion walking through a clearing. The image was taken on July 29 on private land at the west edge of the county near Mountain View. Shannon County Conservation Agent Brad Hadley visited the site on Aug 9. and confirmed the location of the image.
MDC Biologist Jeff Beringer says that widely scattered mountain lion sightings have been confirmed in Missouri and likely will continue. Evidence to date indicates these animals are dispersing from other states to the west of Missouri. The most extreme evidence of this dispersal occurred earlier this year when a mountain lion that was killed in Connecticut was genetically traced to South Dakota.
MDC has no confirmed evidence of a breeding population in Missouri.
MDC receives many reports each year from people who believe they have seen mountain lions.
“We encourage these reports, but we can only confirm those for which there is physical evidence such as hair, scat, footprints, photos, video, a dead cougar or prey showing evidence of mountain-lion attack,” says Beringer, who is a member of the Response Team.
Reports of sightings can be sent to mountain.lion@mdc.mo.gov, or by contacting Beringer at 573-882-9909, ext. 3211, Rex Martensen at 573-522-4115, ext. 3147, or Shawn Gruber at 573-522-4115, ext. 3262.
Mountain lions are naturally shy of humans and generally pose little danger to people, even in states with thriving breeding populations. Although they are protected by law, Missouri’s Wildlife Code does allow people to protect themselves and their property if necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment