The first wild mountain lion confirmed in Connecticut in 100 years traveled more than 1500 miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota, “one of the longest movements ever recorded for a land mammal and nearly double the distance ever recorded for a dispersing mountain lion,” said Connecticut Commissioner Daniel C. Esty.
The mountain lion was killed when a car struck it in Milford, Connecticut, on June 11. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said genetic tests proved the animal’s origin. Connecticut has no native population of mountain lions.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Wildlife Genetic Laboratory in Missoula, Montana, matched DNA taken from droppings, blood and hair found at the location of mountain lion sightings in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010 with DNA taken from the Milford animal, Connecticut authorities reported. Other mountain lion sightings in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as Michigan are believed to be of the same animal, authorities said.
Thanks to the ‘Roostah from Woostah’ for bringing this to the It’s Interesting community.
It's Interesting 