Field Museum to hold cougar's remains

The cleaned bones and tanned hide of a cougar shot last week on a Chicago street will be stored at the Field Museum near a puma obtained in 1955 and the skin of a Florida panther from 1895.

While museum officials say there are currently no plans to put the animal's remains on public display, the cougar's bones and hide will be slotted away for future research.

Since being shot by Chicago police, the cougar has undergone intensive study by biologists for the Cook County Animal and Rabies Control agency and the Brookfield Zoo. The researchers removed organs, teeth and brain to try to determine the animal's age and origin.

The Field's mammal collection dates to the late 1890s. Every year, nearly a thousand scientists request to either visit the Field's mammal collection or have portions of it shipped to them.