Cougar shot in city had been in Wisconsin
A male cougar shot and killed by police April 14 in Chicago was the same animal positively identified in Wisconsin -- the first confirmed instance there in a century.
Previous DNA results also showed the young animal was of North American origin with ties to the Black Hills of South Dakota, the nearest wild cougar population.
"The genetic material it had most closely aligned to South Dakota cougars," said Adrian Wydeven, mammal ecologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
"Right now, the genetics matched up with a wild population."
Officials from the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control on Wednesday released the findings of DNA testing and results of a necropsy or animal autopsy.
The cause of death was gunshot wounds to the right aorta, right heart base and right ventricle, according to a department release.
It tested negative for rabies. Researchers are evaluating its teeth to determine its age, a process that could take a month.
The DNA was matched to that taken from a blood sample Jan. 18, after a large cat cut its paw in a barn near Milton, Wis. Several sightings ensued in Wisconsin.
"These findings provide a glimpse into the life of this wild cougar and are critical pieces of a larger puzzle , which for us and other agencies is: where it came from, and how and why it reached an urban area," said Donna Alexander, administrator of the department of rabies and animal control.
"Additional testing still being performed will further delineate his genealogy and paint a better picture of his life."
Sightings also were reported in North Chicago in late March. A cast taken of an animal's paw print there was determined to be canine in origin.
Cook County Animal Control said it received its first report on March 29. But a day-long search by officers armed with tranquilizer guns turned up nothing.
Witnesses reported seeing a big cat in Round Lake Park on April 3 and in Wilmette on April 12.
The cougar weighed 124 pounds, was 5 feet, 4 inches from nose to tail base and initially was thought to be about two years old.
Researchers theorize the animal dispersed from its home turf due to crowding. That is becoming a more frequent phenomenon.
About 150 cougars have been documented the past 10 years in Midwest states including Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Arkansas.
"They're maxed out. There's no more room," according to Clay Nielsen, a cougar expert with the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory at Southern Illinois University.
Until the cougar was killed in Chicago, only two confirmed cases had occurred in Illinois since the 1860s -- in 2000 and 2004.
The skeleton and hide will be given to the Field Museum for future researchers.
Wydeven said the straight line distance from the edge of the Black Hills to the north side Chicago neighborhood where the cougar was shot is about 800 miles.
"It's hard to say whether this is an isolated event or if we'll start seeing more of these," he added. "We should kind of expect we'll get more of these."