Officials call off search for mountain lion
By MARGERY A. GIBBS / The Associated Press
OMAHA — The search for a cougar on the north edge of Omaha is over — for now.
Nebraska Game and Parks officials called off the search Monday night, about two hours after it began.
Mark Langan of the Nebraska Humane Society said Omaha police and the humane society received about five or six calls from residents in the wooded area on the north edge of Omaha who said they had seen a cougar.
Two officers and two animal control workers went to the area around 7 p.m. Monday and spotted what appeared to be a mountain lion from about 100 yards lying in a field, Langan said.
When the officers headed in the direction of the animal, it took off into the woods, he said.
Because the animal was not captured or spotted by an expert on cougars, it has not been classified as a confirmed sighting, Langan said.
“We’re classifying this as a probable sighting,’’ he said.
If found, officials say the cougar would be killed or tranquilized and transported to a zoo or refuge.
Cougars are interchangeably called mountain lions, pumas, panthers or catamounts in various parts of the nation.
They once roamed over much of what became United States. Despite modern man’s encroachment and the loss of habitat, experts say cougars still range from the Yukon in Canada to the Andes in South America.
Langan says Omaha has about 20 to 30 reports of sightings a year, but confirmed sightings are rare.
“What is uncommon is for police officers or animal control officers to actually see what the people were calling us about,’’ he said.
The search was called off once it became dark, Langan said, because mountain lions can travel long distances in short periods of time.
“It could actually be 20 or 30 miles away by now,’’ Langan said Tuesday.
Langan said officials are not issuing any warnings, but added, “people in the area might want to keep small pets inside.’’
AP Writer Anna Jo Bratton contributed to this report.
OMAHA — The search for a cougar on the north edge of Omaha is over — for now.
Nebraska Game and Parks officials called off the search Monday night, about two hours after it began.
Mark Langan of the Nebraska Humane Society said Omaha police and the humane society received about five or six calls from residents in the wooded area on the north edge of Omaha who said they had seen a cougar.
Two officers and two animal control workers went to the area around 7 p.m. Monday and spotted what appeared to be a mountain lion from about 100 yards lying in a field, Langan said.
When the officers headed in the direction of the animal, it took off into the woods, he said.
Because the animal was not captured or spotted by an expert on cougars, it has not been classified as a confirmed sighting, Langan said.
“We’re classifying this as a probable sighting,’’ he said.
If found, officials say the cougar would be killed or tranquilized and transported to a zoo or refuge.
Cougars are interchangeably called mountain lions, pumas, panthers or catamounts in various parts of the nation.
They once roamed over much of what became United States. Despite modern man’s encroachment and the loss of habitat, experts say cougars still range from the Yukon in Canada to the Andes in South America.
Langan says Omaha has about 20 to 30 reports of sightings a year, but confirmed sightings are rare.
“What is uncommon is for police officers or animal control officers to actually see what the people were calling us about,’’ he said.
The search was called off once it became dark, Langan said, because mountain lions can travel long distances in short periods of time.
“It could actually be 20 or 30 miles away by now,’’ Langan said Tuesday.
Langan said officials are not issuing any warnings, but added, “people in the area might want to keep small pets inside.’’
AP Writer Anna Jo Bratton contributed to this report.
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