Nebraska Mountain lion report is confirmed
11th since 1991, 9th since 1999

Larry Porter
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

07/24/2002
Omaha World-Herald

Midlands
2a
(Copyright 2002 Omaha World-Herald Company)



A second report of a mountain lion in Brown County has been confirmed, said Richard Bischof, nongame and furbearer specialist for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Scot Rosendahl, a wildlife specialist with USDA Wildlife Services, photographed a mountain lion with a trail camera he placed on a game trail near Johnstown last month.


The picture was taken about 10 miles from the spot where Dick Turpin, retired chief of the commission's law enforcement division, videotaped a mountain lion at a deer kill.
Bischof said it is not known whether Rosendahl and Turpin photographed the same animal. Pictures of both were sent to a mountain lion expert in South Dakota, *who was unable to determine whether it was the same animal.(7)

"The animal that Turpin videoed appeared to be a young male about 2 years old," Bischof said. "This latest animal appears to be older - and it would be seven months older if it was the same one. At this point, anything would be speculation."

This is the 11th confirmed report of a mountain lion in Nebraska since 1991.


B&W Photo/1This mountain lion was photographed last month near Johnstown, Neb.; SCOT ROSENDAHL/USDA WILDLIFE SERVICES/1