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An Ulster County man shared a photo of the mountain lion that was on the prowl on Floyd Ackert Road in the Town of Esopus that has gone viral.
The photo has since been confirmed by the New York State DEC that the animal photographed is indeed a mountain lion, not a bobcat or other animal.
According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, “mountain lions do not have a native, self-sustaining population in New York State.
"They have been absent from this state since the late 1800s; however, there have been a few isolated sightings. Each sighting involved cougars that are not native to New York.
“A couple of sightings involved captive mountain lions that escaped from licensed facilities in New York State. Another sighting involved a wild cougar that traveled through New York as it trekked nearly 1,800 miles east from its native population in South Dakota.”
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