Deer hunter at West Point Lake shoots male cougar

A deer hunter shot and killed an extremely rare, 140-pound male cougar near West Point Lake last month, according to the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division.

State biologists do not yet know if the large cat was an Eastern cougar, which is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, or the more common Western variety, WRD spokeswoman Jennifer Barnes said. A genetics test is being performed.

The answer may determine whether the hunter is charged with a crime, she said. The hunter, who was hunting from a tree at the time, told state biologists the cougar approached him and he was concerned for his life.

A necropsy performed on the cougar at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia showed signs of captivity. The large cat was well-fed and healthy and had few parasites. Scuffed paws indicated he was kept on a concrete surface.

WRD Director Dan Forster told the Board of Natural Resources this week that his division is working with officials in Alabama to identify the cougar’s captors and had a couple of suspects. But he also acknowledged, “We may not ever know.”

Forster said the division often gets reports of cougar sightings that don’t pan out. Native populations are believed to have disappeared from Georgia. Their decline is linked to the first European settlers, who killed cougars and other predators to protect their livestock, according to the DNR.