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CENTERVILLE, Mo -- A young male mountain lion was checked and released by the Missouri Department of Conservation in Reynolds County, Missouri Wednesday. The 122-pound animal was trapped by Reynolds County Associate County Commissioner Wayne Henson.
Edited news release from the Missouri Department of Conservation:
Young male mountain lion trapped, released in Reynolds County
The 122-pound cougar turned up in a live-trap on national-forest land.
CENTERVILLE – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) examined and released a male mountain lion trapped by a private citizen in Reynolds County.
Reynolds County Commissioner Wayne Henson called Conservation Agent Eric Long on Thursday morning and reported catching the 122-pound mountain lion on Wednesday. Henson said the cat entered a large, cage-type live trap that he set on Mark Twain National Forest land to catch bobcats, coyotes, raccoons and other mammals.
Henson brought the mountain lion, still alive and in the cage trap, to Centerville on Thursday morning. Agent Long and MDC Resource Scientist Jeff Beringer took possession of the animal and transported it to Current River Conservation Area, where Beringer could examine the animal without disturbance. After weighing and measuring the cat and collecting DNA, Beringer released it to the wild, in keeping with MDC’s established policy for such cases.
Beringer estimated the cat’s age at 2 years. He said it was in excellent physical condition and showed no signs of having been held in captivity.
All wildlife is protected under the provisions of the Wildlife Code of Missouri. However, the Code provides for the taking of wildlife during prescribed hunting and trapping seasons and under other circumstances, such as when mountain lions are attacking or killing livestock or domestic animals or threatening human safety. MDC has not stocked mountain lions in Missouri and has no plans to do so.
MDC wants to learn more about mountain lions in the Show-Me State and encourages Missourians to report sightings to theMountain Lion Response Team at mountain.lion@mdc.mo.gov.
