Motorist strikes, kills mountain lion on I-70 in Warren County

A motorist struck and killed a mountain lion Saturday on Interstate 70 in Warren County, and now scientists are looking into animal’s comeback within the state.

Fox 2 Now reports a passerby noticed the mountain lion carcasse Saturday at mile marker 197.

“It is one of fewer than a half dozen incidents of these animals being struck by cars since the state started keeping track in 1994,” the Fox 2 News report stated.

The majority of mountain lions seen in the state have come from locations in the west including Colorado and South Dakota.

“Mountain lions are very secretive, they don’t like to be around humans, they like to try to avoid them as much as possible,” Missouri Conservation Department spokesman Dan Zarlenga said in the Fox 2 Now report.

The report stated established male mountain lions ofter push the younger males out of the pack.

“We are definitely monitoring it, we have a mountain lion response team, we take every report seriously, we investigate it, and if we can find some kind of evidence then we can call it a confirmed mountain lion sighting,” Zarlenga told Fox 2 Now.

Warren County officials will perform a surgical exam on the mountain lion’s body to determine the animal’s health, stomach contents and sex.

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Motorist strikes, kills mountain lion on I-70 in Warren County."