Mid-Missouri Driver Hits Mountain Lion

A mountain lion killed along the road in central Missouri is the second one killed on a Missouri road in less than a year, and it is bringing up questions of how it got there. Conservation officials have known for several years mountain lions are here but there have only been seven confirmed sightings since 1994. Dave Hamilton, a resource scientist with the State Conservation Department, says despite the nearest known breeding population of mountain lions being at least 500 miles away, the Conservation Department has nothing to do with the big cats showing up in Missouri. Hamilton says the increasing numbers of mountain lions in western states are pushing them east. And, he believes cougars are following river corridors, such as the Missouri, to get here.