The Missouri Department of Conservation is confirming the recent sighting of a mountain lion near Sturgeon.
Conservation Department spokeswoman Maddie Est tells 939 the Eagle that the department’s large carnivore team has confirmed that the youtube video is legitimate.
Sturgeon is 22 miles north of Columbia. While it’s in an area with a number of farmers and livestock, Conservation agent Adam Doerhoff tells “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that mountain lions frequently eat rabbits and squirrels.
“Mountain lions like other predators, they want a mismatch. They want the biggest upper hand, the easiest defeat they can get over their prey items,” Doerhoff says.
The Conservation Department has received several reported sightings of the mountain lion.
“It’s believed that the mountain lions we see in Missouri are from the Black Hills region of South Dakota or somewhere out that way,” says Doerhoff.
The large mountain lion was seen on-camera, walking in the woods along a trail at night. Doerhoff says mountain lions are more scared of people than vice-versa.
