Cop hits mountain lion with patrol car — and poses with body in Texas. ‘Tasteless’
An officer hit a mountain lion with his patrol car in Texas, then held its body up to pose for a photo that several people said they thought was in poor taste.
The collision occurred about 3 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10 while the Longview police officer was patrolling near a middle school, the department said on Facebook the next day. Warning: Some viewers may find the officer’s photo disturbing.
“Due to the extent of its injuries, the animal was put down at the scene,” the department said in the Dec. 11 post.
The department did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Thursday, Dec. 12. The department contacted Texas Parks & Wildlife and the Gregg County game warden to handle the carcass, the department said in the Facebook post.
A biologist with the wildlife agency took DNA and other biological samples and determined the female mountain lion was between 3 and 4 years old and weighed 83.5 pounds, the agency said in a news release.
The agency held onto some of the samples to learn more about mountain lions in Texas and sent several to the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute for an ongoing research project, officials said.
“In Texas, mountain lions are primarily found in the Trans-Pecos and parts of South Texas, however individual lions can move long distances and can show up in areas where they are not typically known to occur,” the agency said.
Officials shared more information about Texas mountain lions and asked East Texas residents to report any more mountain lion sightings to TPWD Nongame Wildlife Biologist Dave Holdermann at dave.holdermann@tpwd.texas.gov.
Several people shared their outrage at the officer’s photo in the comments on the department’s post.
“What a tasteless picture,” someone said.
“Hate that he’s smiling,” someone else said. “It’s super sad and not funny at all.”
“I think this picture is in poor taste, especially for a police department,” another person said.
Several others pointed out how rare it is to see the elusive predators in the eastern part of the state and complained that now a young female of breeding age is dead, there would likely be even less.
“Poor baby,” someone said. “Pretty rare to find em out here so this is kinda sad honestly.”
“And in two months people will start arguing again, that ‘..there are no mountain lions, bobcats or … jaguars around here!’” someone said.
One person supported the officer’s photo and compared it to the types of photos hunters often take with their kill when they harvest an animal.
“He should get to keep it as a trophy!” someone said. “Also, did he get a pic of it beside the front bumper like hunters do with the gun they used to get the kill?”
Some suggested that while it’s sad the animal died, it was also a good thing because they worried the animal could have hurt or killed a child or a pet.
“I’m glad no children or pets were injured,” someone said. “So much of their natural habitat is gone. Beautiful animal.”
Gregg County is about a 125-mile drive southeast from Dallas.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Cop hits mountain lion with patrol car — and poses with body in Texas. ‘Tasteless’."
