Was the cougar lost, or seeking a scenery change?

Information gleaned from a cougar shot Monday in a North Side neighborhood by Chicago police will be shared with experts from all over the state in hopes its origin can be pinpointed.

"What we have to do is pool our knowledge and do some trading to find out exactly where he's coming from," said Donna Alexander, administrator of the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies control.

The shooting Monday evening followed months of cougar sightings in Wisconsin and more recently in North Chicago, Round Lake Park and Wilmette. Alexander said she immediately called Chicago Animal Care and Control and asked for the body on behalf of a broader environmental impact research group.

The 2-year-old "pubescent youngster" was taken to Brookfield Zoo, where a necropsy, or animal autopsy, and other tests were performed by doctors from the zoo and the University of Illinois school of veterinary medicine.

"This is the mystery of the year because basically what we're trying to find out is where this cougar came from and we're using everything at our scientific disposal," she said.

Preliminary indications are that the animal was wild based on several findings. The animal's claws, teeth and genitals had not been altered, and no microchips, tattoos or other identifying marks were found, she said.

"From all indications it was wild. There was nothing to indicate this had ever been somebody's pet," she said. Cougars are legal to be owned only by licensed sanctuaries, she added, and none had reported a cougar missing.

Tissue was taken from organs, the stomach contents removed, the animal tested for viruses and other samples taken. Final results won't be available for about 10 days.

The animal also was tested for rabies and other potential illnesses as possible clues to its movements. Experts have been baffled about why the cougar, normally a solitary animal, entered a dense metropolitan area.

"We need the whole story put together," Alexander said.

While preliminary indicators of captivity were absent, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on Tuesday conducted its own analysis. That will include a comparison with DNA from a cougar confirmed to have been present near Milton, Wis., in January.

The hope is that the animal's migratory pattern and origin can be traced, Alexander said.