Cougar Photographed In Morgan County

Rare Cougar Sighting Confirmed Downstate
FILE - This March 4, 2009 file photo, provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, shows a cougar in a tree west of Spooner, Wis. Cougars are repopulating the Midwest a century since the generally reclusive mountain lions were hunted to near extinction in much of the region, according to a new study detailed in The Journal of Wildlife Management. (AP Photo/ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, File)
FILE - This March 4, 2009 file photo, provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, shows a cougar in a tree west of Spooner, Wis. Cougars are repopulating the Midwest a century since the generally reclusive mountain lions were hunted to near extinction in much of the region, according to a new study detailed in The Journal of Wildlife Management. (AP Photo/ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, File)

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources confirmed Monday that a trail camera photo snapped in Morgan County is indeed that of a cougar.

The photo marks only the fourth confirmed Illinois sighting of a cougar – also known as a mountain lion, panther, puma or catamount – since the cats were driven from Illinois in the 1870s.

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