The body of an adult mountain lion
discovered in north-central Nebraska was the first female found outside
the traditional cougar range in the western part of the state, according
to state wildlife officials.
The Nebraska Game and Parks
Commission reported that the cougar's body was found along a road near
Ericson, in Wheeler County, on Thursday. The big cat may have been hit
by a vehicle, the commission said.
The cougar's gender is
significant, because it could mean the establishment of a breeding
population of the big cats in east-central Nebraska.
The
only female mountain lions previously identified in Nebraska have been
well west of Ericson, in the Pine Ridge, Wildcat Hills and the central
Niobrara River valley near Valentine, said Sam Wilson, the commission's
carnivore program manager.
Until last week, cougars found
outside the western range have been young males driven out of their
home territory by older males and in search of compatible territory and a
mate. They often travel along rivers and streams unnoticed for long
distances. "Our history here has been limited to finding migrating males, but females also disperse," Wilson said.
Earlier
this month, a hunter legally killed a mountain lion in northeast
Nebraska — the first one legally killed outside the Pine Ridge hunting
zone since limited hunting of the big cats in Nebraska was first
approved in 2012.
Mountain lion hunting emerged as a
controversial issue in the Nebraska Legislature this year, with Omaha
Sen. Ernie Chambers unsuccessfully seeking to repeal the commission's
authority to establish mountain lion hunting seasons. Chambers has vowed
to resume the effort when the new legislative session begins in
January.
The commission has not decided whether to authorize a hunting season in 2015.