DNA shows cougar killed in Chicago was one seen in S. Wisconsin

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DNA tests prove it.

A cougar killed by Chicago police last month was the same one spotted in January near Milton in Rock County.

A government lab in Montana said DNA samples at both locations were from the same animal – a type of mountain lion from the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Adrian Wydeven of the state Department of Natural Resources said the cougar had no indications it was ever held in captivity.

It’s still not clear how it got from South Dakota to Wisconsin and then to Chicago where police shot and killed it on April 16.

Wydeven said the heavy cougar population in the Black Hills probably pushed the cat to move.

At Milton, the cougar was first spotted Jan. 18. The DNR confirmed its presence by testing a bloodstain.

It was the first positive sighting of a cougar in the Badger State in about a century.

Tags: outdoor, cougar, milton, policekill, chicago