Mountain lion season is over

North Dakota's Badlands mountain lion season is over.

The fifth, and last, cat of the quota was shot west of Grassy Butte, ending the state's third season at 3:30 p.m. CST Saturday, Randy Kreil, chief of the wildlife division of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department said Saturday.

Initial indications are that the lion was an adult female that weighed approximately 90 pounds, and she was shot by a deer hunter, Kreil said. Other details are sketchy, including the name of the hunter. District game warden Brent Schwan took the report.

The shooting closes the season in what NDGFDconsiders prime mountain lion habitat that is west of state Highway 8 and south of state Highway 1804.

The mountain lion season in the rest of the state will stay open until March 9 because there is no quota. No cougars have been killed outside of the Badlands yet.

The cat was put in a freezer at the ranch until NDGFD can do a preliminary examination Tuesday.

"Being there was access to a freezer, there was no urgency," Kreil said.

- Richard Hinton