Mountain Lions?

[TLRanger]

I have been trying to find the statute that says it is a federal offense to kill a mountain lion in Tennessee with zero luck.

All my searches come up with most of the Western states advertising hunts or a Cougar Dating Service.

The best I can tell is Mountain Lion hunting is controlled by each state. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[scn]

There isn't a federal statute that deals specifically with killing mountain lions.

Due to the fact that the historic home range of the endangered Florida "Panther" reaches up into TN, the USFWs has concerns with any cougars killed in TN. When the question of what would be their response to a cougar being killed in TN went to the highest levels of their agency a few years ago, the word that came back from Washington was that they would investigate any cougar that was killed in TN. If it was determined that it was not an escaped pet, then their officers would seek prosecution by the United States Attorney for violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Thus, as you have seen posted on here, the illegal killing of a wild cougar in TN could likely end up in federal court rather than state court.