Mountain lion shot and killed in subdivision north of Scottsbluff

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Law enforcement killed a mountain lion in western Nebraska on Wednesday.

A member of the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office shot the cougar in a subdivision just north of Scottsbluff, authorities said.

It was “an immediate threat to the public,” the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission said in a press release.

SEE ALSO: Multiple mountain lion sightings reported in southwest Nebraska town

The animal was seen twice in the subdivision that day.

The mountain lion was a 1½-year-old male, according to Game and Parks.

The commission said that’s the age when males start going out on their own in search of territory and a mate.

He was part of the mountain lion population in the Wildcat Hills, which is about 15 miles south of the subdivision.

SEE ALSO: Mountain lion shot in Valentine after multiple sightings and disruption of a golf tournament