DNR confirms Indiana mountain lion sighting

GREENE COUNTY, Ind. (AP) - The Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the presence of a mountain lion in southern Indiana.

DNR official Gary Langell says it's impossible at this point to tell whether the animal sighted in rural Greene County is wild or a formerly captive cat.

A DNR biologist investigating a reported sighting of the cougar used motion-sensitive trail cameras to photograph it last weekend.

The confirmation is the first since the DNR implemented a new policy March 1 to evaluate reported sightings of the animal. Another mountain lion was confirmed in late 2009 in Clay County.

The DNR says the last documented case of a wild mountain lion in Indiana is believed to have been recorded between 1850 and 1865.