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DNR investigating shooting of cougar

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Dec 2, 2011 at 8:06 am

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The state Department of Natural Resources is investigating the fatal shooting of a cougar in southwest Minnesota.

It's illegal to shoot mountain lions, or cougars, in Minnesota unless they're posing a threat. Bruce Ihnen tells The Daily Globe of Worthington he was finishing chores on his brother's farm in Jackson County's Round Lake Township Sunday when the cougar came out of a grove and ran into a culvert.

Ihnen says he called a neighbor and the two chased it out of the culvert and his neighbor shot it.

DNR spokesman Chris Niskanen says it is likely the first cougar shot by a citizen in Minnesota's "modern history.'' He says the 125-pound animal is being examined by the agency's wildlife biologists in Grand Rapids.