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| This photo of a mountain lion was taken Jan. 12 by a Chesterfield resident. Photo courtesy of Missouri Department of Conservation. |
CHESTERFIELD • The Missouri Department of Conservation has examined photos of a mountain lion taken Jan. 12 in a wooded area and says they are valid.
"While we did not find further evidence, such as tracks, we can confirm that the photos are of a mountain lion at the reported location," Jeff Beringer, a resource scientist with the department, said in a statement released this afternoon. "We don't know anything else about this cat other than it was here."
The photos were taken by Garrett Jensen of Chesterfield with a trail camera. The Department of Conservation did not release the exact location, saying it does not want people flocking to the site. It would say only that the site was near the Missouri River.
This is the 13th confirmed report of a mountain lion in Missouri since 1994, and the first in the St. Louis area in that time. But the Department of Conservation pointed out that it has no documented cases of mountain lions attacking livestock, pets or people. Mountain lions are nocturnal and tend to avoid humans.
The Department of Conservation gets hundreds of calls and e-mails from people claiming to have seen mountain lions. Most turn out to be bobcats, house cats or dogs.
Beringer said mountain lions seen in Missouri are probably young males roaming from surrounding states, searching for new territory, usually along a river.
Mountain lions are also called cougars, panthers and pumas.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_e08c1c9e-24e5-11e0-a8e6-0017a4a78c22.html
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