possible lion sighting in NH

[Emily]

From the Keene, NH Sentinel Source
the supposed lion pic is not included

http://sentinelsource.com/news/local/mo ... mode=story

Posted: Friday, October 28, 2011 12:15 pm | Updated: 11:52 am, Fri Oct 28, 2011.
By Christina Braccio Sentinel Staff | 0 comments
Mountain lion claim is investigated
The N.H. Fish and Game Department is investigating a claim that a mountain lion was spotted in the Monadnock Region sometime last week.

A photo of a mountain lion was given to Fish and Game last Friday, according to Patrick Tate, a wildlife biologist for the agency. He could not confirm where the sighting occurred.
“In the picture, it’s certainly a mountain lion,” Tate said. “
In the past, N.H. Fish and Game has received pictures of mountain lions supposedly spotted in New Hampshire, but that were taken out of state, Tate said.
“We’re working with the person who submitted the photo to get an original, high-resolution photo and to show us where it was taken,” Tate said. “We need to match the vegetation in the picture to the reported location to prove that the picture is verifiable.”
Every year, about 100 people in the state report seeing mountain lions, but no verifiable evidence has ever been found to confirm a sighting, Tate said.
If the photograph does prove to be real, it would be the first confirmed sighting of a mountain lion in the state since Fish and Game began investigating claims of sightings in 1940.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared Northeastern mountain lions extinct, saying there hasn’t been a credible sighting in several decades.
In June, a mountain lion was killed by a car in Connecticut; however, through genetic testing, officials found the animal was a Western mountain lion that had traveled to New England from South Dakota, Tate said.
“The closest we’ve had to documenting a sighting in New Hampshire was in 2009 when another Fish and Game employee witnessed what they believed to be a mountain lion in the Barnstead area,” Tate said.
However, no physical evidence of a mountain lion was found.
A Swanzey man reported seeing a mountain lion near Keene State College in late August, prompting the college’s campus safety office to issue issued a campus-wide warning advising people not to approach such an animal and to report any sightings. After an investigation, N.H. Fish and Game found no evidence of a mountain lion in the area.
Christina Braccio can be reached at 352-1234 extension 1436, or cbraccio@keenesentinel.com