Bloomington police officers tried for 10 minutes to shoo away a snarling 90-pound cougar crouched in the underbrush near a popular walking path before killing it, a police lieutenant said Friday.

Officers, responding to reports from people who saw the cat about 8:30 p.m Thursday, kicked dirt its way and flashed lights at it. But the female cougar crouched in a defensive position and stood its ground, about 30 feet from the path in Moir and Central parks near Queen Avenue S.

"We've had 10 reported sightings of cougars in that area along the Minnesota River since 1999," Lt. James Ryan said. "This is the first one that didn't choose the flight option in fight or flight."

After officer Tim Williams, an 11-year veteran of the Police Department, got the order to destroy the cougar, he used an assault rifle because of its accuracy and firepower, Ryan said.

After Williams' first shot, the animal lunged at him. About five shots later, the cougar lay dead about 15 feet from the officers, Ryan said.

It was taken to the University of Minnesota on Friday, to undergo tests to try to determine its age and whether it had ever been in captivity.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is investigating.

While there is not a breeding population of cougars in Minnesota, DNR spokesman Dennis Stauffer said they are wide-ranging animals that do wander into the state.

It is a misdemeanor to shoot a cougar under Minnesota law, but the animal, also known as a mountain lion, is not listed as threatened or endangered, he said. Police have authority to shoot the animal if they feel there is a danger to public safety.

"Officers have to use a little bit of judgment," Stauffer said. "There are laws on the books -- as well there should be -- that allow some discretion in situations like this."

The decision to shoot the cougar was the result of a combination of things, including impending darkness, the proximity to the busy walking path and the animal's uncharacteristic behavior, Ryan said. He described Williams as an outdoorsman who is familiar with the behavior of wild animals.

"He knows that the instinct of a wild animal who is approached by a larger animal is flight, especially when there is an open area like the one by the river" Ryan said. "This animal was crouching down and defensive."

There is no way to confirm whether the cougar shot Thursday is the same one that was caught on camera in April in Savage, Stauffer said. But Kerry Kammann, one of the men who set up the motion-sensing camera that caught the Savage cougar on film, said he doubts it was the same cat.

"They're talking about this one being 90 pounds," he said. "We judged the cat that was photographed to be (150 pounds), at least."

In 1992, a 150-pound cougar was captured in Worthington, and last August an Aitkin County man shot a cougar on his porch.

Kammann said that when he heard the news of the shooting, he was curious to know whether it was the cougar in his snapshots, but that his thoughts were for the safety of the people on the path.

"My feeling was that if the cat's up there and it's not running away, it's dangerous." he said. "But it seems like they're out there, so we better start to learn to live with them."

-- Howie Padilla is at hpadilla@startribune.com .