State investigators are searching for suspects after the body of an illegally poached mountain lion was found abandoned in a Colorado canyon last week, according to wildlife officials.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife rangers responded to Taylor Canyon in Gunnison City Mountain Park on Friday after the mountain lion’s carcass was discovered near a group of campsites, according to a news release from the agency.
The mountain lion, which had been shot in the chest and left in the bushes, was previously part of the agency’s mountain lion density study in Gunnison Basin, wildlife officials said in the release.
During that study, researchers captured, marked, collared and monitored dozens of mountain lions across western Colorado, according to the agency. Nearly 100 animals were collared between Middle Park and Gunnison Basin.
“We are looking for leads or information anyone might have that could assist us with this investigation,” CPW District Wildlife Manager Codi Prior said in a statement. “Somebody killed this lion and then dumped its carcass.”
The poached mountain lion’s carcass was discovered three days before the start of legal mountain lion hunting season in Colorado. The season runs from Nov. 24 to March 31.
Anyone with information on the mountain lion or the people responsible is asked to contact Prior at 970-641-7075 or codi.prior@state.co.us, or CPW’s Gunnison wildlife office at 970-641-7060.
Tipsters who want to remain anonymous can contact Operation Game Thief — a Colorado Parks and Wildlife program that awards people who turn in poachers up to $1,000 — at 877-265-6648 or by email at game.thief@state.co.us.
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