Cougar struck
and killed in Northland Missouri was wild, tests indicate
The Kansas
City Star
Posted on Fri, Mar. 21, 2003
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Tests show that a cougar hit by a car and killed in Kansas City, North, in October probably was wild, biologists said Thursday.
Free-roaming cougars vanished from the area in the 1800s. Authorities were unsure whether this one was wild or a pet.
But the cougar fed on deer and raccoon, according to microscopic analysis of hair found in the cat's digestive tract, said Dave Hamilton, a wildlife biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation.
"I think it was living on its own for awhile, if not totally wild," Hamilton said.
Also, DNA tests performed at Central Michigan University showed the cougar was a North American type, he said. That is significant because many captive cougars are often of South American origin.
The cougar's diet provides the biggest clues. On Thursday, the same researchers notified Hamilton that hair in the stomach was 85 percent deer hair with a smaller amount of raccoon and other types, along with red and blue man-made fibers.
"Whether that was a collar off a pet," Hamilton said, "that's a possibility."
The cougar was mortally injured when it ran in front of a car at night on Interstate 35 in the Northland. Police later found the 100-pound male in a back yard.
"House cats can live off the land," Hamilton said, "so it's possible for a once-captive cougar to do the same if they're equipped, and this one had claws and teeth."
The cougar's lean build was typical for a young traveling male, he said. Missouri appears to have only scattered cougars, but Western states have growing populations.
"If I were to speculate," Hamilton said, "I'd say that it was a Western cat that came down the Missouri River and got caught in an urban environment. It probably followed a creek up into the wooded ravines, found itself in a back yard and got hit crossing the highway."
To reach Bill Graham, natural science reporter, call (816) 234-5906 or send e-mail to bgraham@kcstar.com.