A big-rig truck struck and killed a mountain lion early Friday on Colorado Highway 140 (La Plata Highway) south of Hesperus.
The tractor-trailer was southbound on the highway when it hit the adult male mountain lion, said Trevor Balzer, a district wildlife manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife in Durango.
The truck stopped on about one-quarter mile south of the junction with Wildcat Canyon Road (County Road 141), Balzer said.
Balzer didn’t know the actual point of impact.
“A lot of people were stopping to look or take photos,” Balzer said. “It created a traffic hazard.”
A Colorado State Patrol dispatcher said no trooper was sent because there was no damage to the vehicle.
Balzer extracted a tooth from the mountain lion.
The tooth will be sent to a laboratory to determine the age of the cat.
The Division of Wildlife files such information on mountain lions to keep track of cat population, Balzer said.
The carcass of the mountain lion, just as the remains of a bear cub killed May 5 by a vehicle on Florida Road, will be preserved for a short time to satisfy requests for body parts for research or educational purposes, Balzer said.
