NEW HAVEN, CONN. (AP) - A 140-pound mountain lion that was struck and killed by a car in Connecticut was likely a captive animal that escaped or was released, environmental officials said Monday.
The male lion was killed Saturday on a highway in Milford, a coastal city that’s more than 1,000 miles from where the nearest population of mountain lions lives. Department of Environmental Protection officials said they were working with New York authorities on a lead but declined to disclose details.
Officials believe the dead animal was the same mountain lion that was spotted in the wealthy town of Greenwich from May 31 to June 5, even though there were two reported sightings of a mountain lion in Greenwich after the lion was killed.
“There’s no native population of mountain lions in Connecticut. We believe this was a pet that escaped or was released in some fashion,” said Susan Frechette, DEP deputy commissioner. She said officials were investigating who may have owned the animal, who was probably younger than 6.
“Until we have something we can really go on, a photograph, a clear paw print or something that really indicates that we have another animal, we’re still assuming we’re dealing with one,” Frechette said.
Further tests are needed to determine the type of mountain lion found. The eastern mountain lion has been declared extinct by the U.S. wildlife officials.
Col. Kyle Overturf with the Environmental Conservation Police said authorities are investigating the case as a possible violation of Connecticut’s wildlife laws.
“It is illegal to possess a mountain lion in Connecticut, and if our investigation reveals that a Connecticut resident illegally possessed this animal, we may see criminal charges,” Overturf said.
He appealed for the public’s help in finding the animal’s origin.
No one in Connecticut had a permit for a mountain lion, Overturf said. New York had two permitted mountain lions and neither of those animals escaped, he said.
“They’re following a lead right now that we’re working with,” Overturf said. “Other than that, we have no other leads.”
Lori Severino, a Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman in New York, said the agency isn’t directly involved with any investigation based in Connecticut
Mountain lions are regularly reported throughout the Northeast but rarely documented.
“For Connecticut, I can say with certainty, this was the first hard confirmation that we’ve had of the occurrence of one individual of the species,” said Paul Rego, a DEP wildlife biologist.
Officials urged residents to keep an eye on children and pets, bring any cat or dog food inside and deposit trash in sealed containers. Mountain lions are most active at dawn and dusk.
Audubon Greenwich closed its trails Sunday and Monday to the public after a resident reporting seeing a mountain lion a day after the mountain lion was killed in Milford.
“We’re just kind of taking it one day at a time,” said Karen Dixon, Audubon director. “I think people are just trying to stay informed.”
Phylis Roitsch, a Greenwich resident who lives near one of the sightings, said she was concerned for her pets’ safety. But if another mountain lion turns up, she said she hopes officials can use a tranquilizer to capture it.
“The mountain lion must be every bit as scared and unhappy as we are,” Roitsch said.
The nearest population of mountain lions is in Missouri or Nebraska, said Tom French, assistant director of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
“I suspect that it probably escaped from some private individual,” French said.
Massachusetts officials have seized six mountain lions in the past 27 years that were kept as pets, the most recent in 1993, French said. He said mountain lions were more popular as pets 25 years ago, though they’re still somewhat common nationwide.
The last confirmed cougar sighting in the Northeast was in Maine in 2000, said Christopher Spatz, president of the Cougar Rewilding Foundation.
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Associated Press writers Susan Haigh and Michael Melia contributed to this story.
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