Cougar struck and killed on Twin Cities highway

December 7, 2023

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A cougar that was struck and killed on an interstate highway in suburban Minneapolis Wednesday was more than likely the same animal captured on home security video sauntering across a driveway earlier this week, a Minnesota wildlife official said.

An SUV struck the male cougar before dawn Wednesday on Interstate 394 in Golden Valley, Minnesota — a short distance from the Minneapolis neighborhood where a cougar showed up in surveillance video two days earlier.

Dan Stark, a large carnivore specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said the cougar that was killed was almost certainly the same one since the animals are exceedingly rare in that area. Until this week, a cougar hadn’t been seen in Hennepin County in nearly 20 years.