Cougar killed by bowhunter in Buffalo County

A bowhunter killed a cougar Nov. 11 in Buffalo County after reportedly being threatened by the animal, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

The incident took place on private property in western Buffalo County.

The hunter, licensed to pursue white-tailed deer during the Wisconsin bow season, was in a tree stand when he saw the cougar and felt his safety was at risk, said Randy Johnson, DNR large carnivore specialist.

The hunter then used his bow to shoot and kill the animal. The hunter, who was not identifed, contacted the DNR to report the incident.

Cougars are a protected species in Wisconsin but humans have the right to protect themselves against a wild animal if their safety is threatened.

After reviewing results of an investigation by DNR conservation wardens into the cougar killing, the Buffalo County district attorney concluded no charge was warranted. The DNR took possession of the carcass for testing.

The cougar was a young male and weighed 128 pounds, Johnson said.

The DNR plans to do a necropsy on the animal, including aging by tooth analysis and genetic testing to try to determine the source population.

Cougar sightings in Wisconsin have become more common

Cougars were native to Wisconsin but extirpated in 1908, according to DNR records. But confirmed sightings of the species in the state, aided by the increasing use of trail cameras, have become relatively common over the last couple decades.

The documented cougar sightings include a 2021 trail cam image from West Bend.

Testing of cougar samples obtained in Wisconsin in recent years has shown the animals originated in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

There have been 25 verified cougar reports in Wisconsin in 2023, according to the DNR.

Trail cameras captured a cougar Nov. 8 in western Buffalo County; it is believed to be the same animal killed Nov. 11.

The cougar killed in Buffalo County is the first known to be killed in Wisconsin since 1908, Johnson said.

None of the more than 100 verified cougar reports in the state in recent years resulted in a perceived risk to human safety and the use of lethal force against the animal.

Most cougars spotted in Wisconsin have dispersed from out west

Significantly, there is no evidence of a breeding population of cougars in Wisconsin. All evidence to date suggests most, if not all, of the cougars observed in Wisconsin are young males dispersing from established populations in the western U.S., the agency said.

Dispersing cougars do not tend to stay in one location for long and have been recorded traveling up to 1,600 miles, according to the DNR.

Other recent cougar sightings in Wisconsin include a trail camera image captured Oct. 28 in Shawano County.

Johnson encouraged the public to report cougar sightings via the DNR’s Wildlife Observation Tool. Additional information on cougars and verified observations is available on the DNR’s Cougars in Wisconsin webpage.