Cougar hit, killed near I-35W and 494 in Bloomington

(St. Paul, MN) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says a cougar was hit and killed in Bloomington in the early morning hours.

According to a Facebook post by the DNR, the 115-pound male cat was hit by a vehicle near where I-35W and 494 intersect.

The cougar was taken to the DNR Wildlife Research office in Grand Rapids.  There it will undergo a necropsy to determine several things, including where it might have originated.

“Cougars are verified from time to time in Minnesota, but evidence to date suggests they’re transient animals from the western Dakotas,” says the post.