Man charged in shooting of cougar

Updated: January 28, 2012 - 8:40 AM

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FILE - This Nov. 28, 2011, file photo provided by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shows a cougar that was shot and killed in a rural area of Jackson County in southwestern Minnesota. Prosecutors have charged a southwest Minnesota man for allegedly shooting the cougar last November. Twenty-six-year-old Daniel Hamman of rural Jackson County was charged by citation Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, with shooting a protected animal, a misdemeanor.

Photo: Randy Markl, Associated Press

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Daniel Hamman, 26, was charged Friday in Jackson County with shooting a cougar, a protected animal in Minnesota.

Hamman, of Round Lake Township in southwest Minnesota, reportedly shot the 3-year-old male on Nov. 27 after a neighbor saw it run from a grove of trees into a culvert. According to news reports at the time, the neighbor drove the animal from the culvert while Hamman waited on the other side with a gun.

Hamman could not be reached for comment Friday.

It was the first time in recent memory that a citizen had killed a cougar, once native to the state.

Hamman faces maximum penalties of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

DNR officials said the cougar appeared to be wild, and may have traveled from South Dakota's Black Hills, where a cougar population has become established.

Since 2007, the DNR has confirmed 14 cougar sightings statewide.

JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY