Mountain Lions in Connecticut!
– – Mountain lions are said not to exist in Connecticut. The problem is, however, mountain lions don’t read, and nobody thought to tell them; they just don’t appreciate that the nearest confirmed population of their kind is in Missouri. As if to reinforce to one mountain lion that he was extinct, an SUV plowed into one on the Wilbur Cross Parkway earlier this month.
Now where do non-indigenous species come from? Most likely, a rather lively trade in wild animals that is fueled by the internet. While some states have laws prohibiting private ownership of non-native animals such as big cats, bears, wolves, and chimpanzees other states do not…and this patchwork quilt of different laws from state to state allows the irresponsible to travel to nearby states to make exotic animal purchases. Sadly, illegal trafficking in exotic animals is a global business worth up to $20 billion annually. A lot of the local exotic animal trade is fed by zoo or circus surplus, the descendents of those animals, or from breeders.
The eastern mountain lion slain may have been held in captivity, and either escaped or was released. Irresponsible human behaviors continue to claim animal victims in this manner…
(…tip o’ the pen to carycomic!)
Explore posts in the same categories: animal abuse, animals, anomalies, environmental, furry, unexplainedTags: mountain lion killed, non-indigenous species
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FOXSYLVANIA 
June 14, 2011 at 2:23 am
Thanks. 🙂
If, however, the authorities are wrong and this _was_ a wild cougar (that was part of a small population that had re-established itself, on its own, east of Missouri), then its death is all the more tragic. 😦
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