Conservation Department Learns More About Mountain Lion Killed In Mid-Missouri

State conservation officials believe a mountain lion hit and killed along a road in Central Missouri this month is a bit younger than first thought. But, they still don’t know where it came from. When it was first discovered about three weeks ago, the cougar was believed to be two and a half to three years old. Now, State Conservation Department resource scientist Dave Hamilton says the mountain lion was probably about a year to a year and a half old. Plenty of time Hamilton believes for the mountain lion to have walked from areas where there are more of the big cats, Colorado or perhaps South Dakota, although he does not totally rule out it is a Missouri-born cougar. He does rule out the chance that it was brought in by any government conservation agency either federal or state. However, Hamilton does admit animal release experiments in other states have been kept quiet in the past. Hamilton says an individual could have released the mountain lion but he says we might never know its origin.