State conservation officials have confirmed the sighting of a mountain lion in northwest Missouri.
The Conservation Department says a photograph taken last week by a Platte County landowner clearly shows a mountain in a tree on his property. The department also identified claw marks and collected hair samples from where the mountain lion was perched.
The department says it receives dozens of reports each year from Missourians claiming to have seen a mountain lion. But of more than 1,500 such reports received since 1994, just 11 have come with enough evidence to confirm the presence of a mountain lion. That figure includes the recent Platte County sighting.