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April 30, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For
more information, contact Ibis Antongiorgi, Press Secretary to Cook
County Board President Todd H. Stroger, at 312-603-0396 or by email at
iantongiorgi@cookcountygov.com.
Cook County Department on Animal Control Releases Test Results on Cougar
Evaluation of animal’s age is ongoing.
Bridgeview,
IL – Today the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies
Control released the findings of DNA testing and necropsy results of a
large male cougar fatally shot on April 14 on Chicago’s North
Side.
The DNA sample obtained from the cougar was a positive match to the DNA
sample from a cougar sighted in Rock County, Wisconsin on January 18,
2008. Necropsy results showed the cause of death was gunshot wounds to
the right aorta, right heart base, and right ventricle. The animal
tested negative for rabies. Evaluation of the animal’s age via
tooth analysis is ongoing and the process may take up to a month.
“These findings provide a glimpse into the life of this wild
cougar and are critical pieces of a larger puzzle, which for us and
other agencies is: where it came from, and how and why it reached an
urban area,” said Dr. Donna Alexander, administrator of Cook
County Animal and Rabies Control. “Additional testing still being
performed will further delineate his genealogy and paint a better
picture of his life.”
The cougar was first reported to Cook County Animal Control on March
29. As a result, Animal Control Officers armed with tranquilizer guns
searched the north Chicago suburbs, but did not find the cougar after a
day-long search.
On April 15, a second sighting was reported to Chicago Police who
searched the Roscoe Village neighborhood and were forced to shoot and
kill the animal to protect residents, children and their small pets.
The cougar’s remains were in the custody of the Cook County
Animal Control where a necropsy was performed. The animal weighed 124
pounds and was 5 feet 4 inches from nose to tail base.
His remains will now reside at the Field Museum in Chicago for future researchers.
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