PRESS RELEASE: DEP Reports That Animal Scat found on Audubon Property in Greenwich is from the Canine Family
Tests Confirms Scat is not from a Mountain Lion
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that DNA tests conclusively indicate a sample of animal scat found on Audubon property in Greenwich on June 12, 2011 is from the canine family (coyotes, dogs, foxes, etc) and is not from a mountain lion. The sample tested was collected following the reported sighting of a mountain lion in the area off John Street in Greenwich. The sample was analyzed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (U.S. Forest Service) Rocky Mountain Research Center in Montana.
“These results are another step in our efforts to determine if the mountain lion struck and killed by a car in Milford on June 11 was the same mountain lion that had been spotted earlier in Greenwich,” said DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette. “The U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the University of Arizona and the New York State Museum are also conducting tests that may help us determine if the animal killed in Milford was a captive animal that had escaped or been released. We will continue to release results from tests and a necropsy that has been conducted as they become available.”
On Monday June 20, the Greenwich Police Department announced that it had received verbal confirmation that a previous scat sample collected on June 5 in the King Street area of Greenwich and sent to a private California laboratory for analysis was from a mountain lion. The town is still awaiting final written results.
The DEP Environmental Conservation Police continues to investigate to determine the ownership of the animal and if it was held illegally in Connecticut or originated from captivity from another state. The DEP continues to solicit credible reports and will investigate physical evidence to substantiate such reports.
Editors Note: A driver recently questioned a size-able cat carcass seen between exit 2 and 3 on Rte 9 north. Her calls to the state have gone unanswered. A bobcat sighting in the Hadlyme area was recently posted on the CT Mountain Lion Organization, which tracks and researches mountain lions making their way through the Hudson Valley into Connecticut.
