THE REGISTER-HERALD (BECKLEY, W.V.)
LEWISBURG, W.V. — Animal control officials say cameras will be installed on a tract of land in north-central Greenbrier County to document a hunter's claims that a free-roaming African lion has made a home near Cold Knob.
County officials are dealing with the unusual scenario because exotic animals do not come under the jurisdiction of the state Division of Natural Resources, county animal control officer Robert McClung said.
Motion-sensitive video cameras owned by the state Department of Environmental Protection and used to catch litterbugs and still cameras used by hunters could be placed on trees at Big Roaring Creek, he said.
“For the sake of the public’s safety, we need to confirm this,” McClung said. “If we can confirm that it’s a lion, plans are being made to use a bear trap to capture it.”
McClung said if the big cat is eventually captured, it will be turned over to the Tiger Mountain Refuge in Rainelle, a nonprofit group that takes in abandoned exotic pets.
While bow hunting last week on his 40-acre tract at Big Roaring Creek, Jim Shortridge, 72, of Frankford, said he watched the 300-pound male lion for about 40 minutes.
The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.V.
10 comments:
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Oh my Lions, Tiger and Bears...do you have a yellow brick road to go with that? Seriously, I'd take my alligators over a free roaming male Lion in them thar hills. Just be careful. love Sandi
OH LORD....LAHOMA!!!!!!! PLEASE STAY ALERT WHEN OUT AND ABOUT!
LOVE YA,
CARLENE
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Good Lord! Wait till my church hears of this. They'll really be shuffling dates to come then. JK. lol I just hope that they catch it before it finds someone to eat. Those things are ferocious and huge. I saw one upclose when the land rover I was in broke down when I was in AFRICA years ago and I never, ever want to be that close to one of them again. It is not like at the zoo at all. Really dangerous. Be so careful.
Nelishia
http://journals.aol.com/nelishianatl/PrayingandBelieving/
No going visiting there then !!! Have a lovley day watch out for the lions Love Sybil x
Anybody going 'puss puss puss' out there?
How interesting ~ I hope for the sake of the lion they can capture it without any harm coming to it. I think my husband and I were in Beckley when we went ATV-ing on the Hatfield McCoy trail. It is beautiful down there.
Lisa
Are you from W.VA?
If so my hubby was from cabin creek ,big tyler etc.
~connie~
aw I hope they don't harm him, he can't help being a big old lion lol Linda xx
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