Cougar eludes authorities after escape from Indiana preserve

CENTER POINT, Ind. -- A cougar scaled a 14-foot fence to escape a western Indiana preserve and remained at large Sunday, apparently leaving behind the remains of two raccoons it had killed, a conservation officer said Sunday.\nThe 8- or 9-year-old wildcat, which is tan in color and weighs about 80 pounds, escaped the Exotic Feline Rescue Center on Friday and eluded a tracker over the weekend, Max Winchell of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said Sunday.\nThe cat might pose a threat to anyone who approaches it because although it has been in captivity and may not fear humans, it was born in the wild, Winchell said.\nLaw-enforcement officials asked the public to not go to the area attempting to view or locate the animal, Winchell said.\n"It's very elusive," he said.\nThe wildcat was believed to still be on the grounds of the preserve, which sprawls across more than 100 acres and holds nearly 200 exotic cats under a permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's located about 50 miles west of Indianapolis.\nA retired USDA employee, Bryce Finny of Indianapolis, was trying to track and tranquilize the cougar, Winchell said. Finny reported finding the remains of a raccoon that the mountain lion killed and ate as well as a second raccoon that was killed.\nState conservation officers and Clay County sheriff's deputies patrolled the perimeter of the property and did not see the wildcat, Winchell said.\nThe USDA, while not responsible for the recapture of the cougar, might send additional personnel this week, Winchell said.\nWhile it is illegal to kill protected exotic animals, people have the right to protect themselves and their property if they feel threatened, Winchell said.\nState conservation officers have received numerous reports of sightings of exotic cats over the past two months in Clay, Vigo and Putnam counties, although there have been no other reports of escapes, Winchell said.\n"This is the first one," he said.\nEven though the cougar escaped its roofless pen on Friday afternoon, operator Joe Taft did not contact authorities until Saturday morning, when he told an employee of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources who in turn alerted conservation officers, Winchell said.\nThe rescue center, which also houses lions, tigers and leopards, says its mission is to provide homes for exotic felines that have been abused, abandoned or have no where to live out their lives, while also educating the public about them.