A Wisconsin bowhunter escaped a cougar’s jaws this weekend but also escaped any charges for killing it, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said Wednesday.
The cougar’s death was reported to a state wildlife law violation hotline Saturday.
The hunter, unnamed by officials, was hunting deer in western Buffalo County as a licensed archer and said that he shot and killed the cougar to protect himself.
Conservation wardens investigated the incident, and the Buffalo County District Attorney’s Office determined the hunter will not be charged.
The dead cougar was a young, 128-pound male, WDNR large carnivore specialist Randy Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It is the first of its species known to have been killed in Wisconsin since 1908.
Cougars are a legally protected species in Wisconsin, having previously been wiped out from the state by the early 1900s.
The dead cougar is believed to be the same cougar spotted by a trail camera elsewhere in western Buffalo County on Nov. 8, according to the Journal Sentinel.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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