Montana Governor Greg Gianforte is catching some heat after it was revealed that he shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by the National Park Service.
Details of Gianforte's December 28th hunting trip were first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed Monday by his press secretary, Brooke Stroyke. She said the governor, who had a valid license, drove the cougar up into a tree and shot it on public land.
"The governor and friends tracked the lion on public lands," Stroyke told The Post. "As the group got closer to the lion, members of the group, who have a hound training license, used four hounds to tree the lion once the track was discovered in a creek bottom on public land."
Gianforte confirmed the animal was a male, and said the state's leader "harvested it, and put his tag on it." She said the governor immediately called in the kill, then met with the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game warden, who tagged the cougar and "took the collar."
Those familiar with the details told The Post that the hunt happened on public U.S. Forest Service land located south-west of Emigrant, Montana.
The 5-year-old mountain lion was being monitored with a GPS-tracking collar, but had ventured outside the protected areas of Yellowstone National Park. Park staff knew the animal by its research number: M220, The Post reported.
Some locals have complained that the mountain lion was kept in the tree by hunting dogs for hours before Gianforte arrived to harvest the animal. Stroyke denies that happened. A spokesperson for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks also said that was "not consistent" with what they had been told. He added that the governor's Dec. 28 hunt was completely legal.
Under federal law, hunting and discharging firearms is barred within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. But once animals venture outside the boundaries, those rules no longer apply -- even if the animal is being monitored by researchers.
The mountain lion is Gianforte's second kill of a monitored animal that ventured outside the National Park's protected boundaries. In February 2021, he trapped and killed a Montana black wolf that was also tagged in Yellowstone. Gianforte received a citation from the state's game warden, however, for not completing a mandatory certification class before trapping the animal.
An estimated 34 to 42 mountain lions reside year-round in Yellowstone but the animals are seldomly seen, according to the National Park Service.
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