A man who admitted to killing an endangered Florida panther while hunting in Georgia was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
David Adams, 60, formerly of Newnan, also loses the right to a hunting license anywhere in the U.S. during his probation, Tom MacKenzie with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the AJC. Adams was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court.
“Today’s sentencing affirms our commitment to investigate violations of the federal wildlife laws intended to protect our Nation’s most imperiled species,” said Luis J. Santiago, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Southeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement.
Adams shot and killed the animal Nov. 16, 2008, while hunting in Troup County. There is no open season in Georgia for cougars.
The Florida panther has been endangered since 1967. Currently, there are between 100 and 160 adults, up from less than 30 in the late 1980s, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
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