Cougar hit by vehicle, killed on I-394 in Minneapolis

Minneapolis — The Minnesota State Patrol confirmed a westbound motorist struck and killed a cougar on I-394 at Theodore Wirth Parkway in the city of Minneapolis at 2:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

Lt. Jill Frankfurth, public information officer for Minnesota State Patrol, said a 53-year-old male was driving a Hummer H3 when it struck the cougar, swerved, and struck the concrete barrier. The driver wasn’t injured, and the cougar was killed upon impact. 

A Facebook video by Nathan Kmetz showed the damage of the car and the dead cougar. The video was posted at 4:23 a.m. on Dec. 6. He followed up with another post at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 6 showing three photos of the dead cougar.

Outdoor News reached out to Kmetz for a comment but hasn’t heard back from him. 

Frankfurth said the DNR had possession of the cougar and the investigation is still ongoing. Joe Albert, DNR enforcement division communications coordinator, confirmed the DNR still had possession of the cougar. 

He added that the cougar will be taken to wildlife research in Grand Rapids for a necropsy to determine more information about the accident and the animal. Albert said the cougar had a tag on its ear that was originally tagged in northwestern Nebraska in 2021 when it was a kitten. 

The accident follows extensive news reports on Monday, Dec. 4, of a cougar being spotted on a home security camera in Lowry Hill neighborhood in Minneapolis. A video was posted on Nextdoor by Robyn Bruggeman revealing a cougar walking across a driveway. 

Dan Stark, DNR large carnivore specialist, said he’s seen the video and though it’s unexpected to see a cougar in Minneapolis, given the densely populated urban area, it still can happen. The DNR verified the cougar sighting through a Facebook post on Wednesday, Dec. 6, morning. 

There have been several urban cougar sightings in recent years. One was in the southern part of the Twin Cities in 2020 and another found in 2022. The east metro verified one in 2009. 

According to the DNR website, there’s been 77 cougar verifications since 2004. Stark said it’s extremely rare to encounter a cougar, since most sightings happen between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. 

If someone does encounter a cougar though, Stark has a few pieces of advice. 

“Don’t run, crouch, or lay down,” Starks said. “Make yourself look bigger. Talk loudly and firmly and be assertive. Throw things like sticks and rocks in the direction of the animal. Slowly move away… If attacked, you want to be aggressive and fight back. Hit the animal with anything you have.”