Cougar That Roamed Wis. Killed In Car Crash

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) -- State wildlife officials say DNA tests show a cougar that roamed Minnesota and Wisconsin was killed in a car crash in Connecticut last month.

The animal was killed June 11 near Milford, Conn. It was first detected by police in Champlin, Minn., in December 2009. Biologists used trail camera photos, tracks and DNA tests on biological samples such as scat and hair to determine it crossed the St. Croix River into Wisconsin and wandered across the state into Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the spring of 2010.

The cougar would have traveled 1,055 miles in a straight line, a new record for movement of a known cougar. However, biologists believe it walked between 1,600 and 1,800 miles, traveling through Canada and down through New York into Connecticut.

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