RICHMOND, Va. -- The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) says a flyer circulating warning Virginians about supposed mountain lion sightings is fake.
The department posted the bogus flyer on their Facebook page. It read in part:
“Attention. Recently there have been several credible reported sightings, as well as wildlife camera footage of a North American Mountain Lion (Cougar) in the Slate Lick area of Fulks Run.”
The flyer also includes the DGIF logo, address, and contact information.
“This is NOT TRUE! We have no reports of them in VA. If you have any questions about this or any other flyers you see from DGIF, please feel free to let us know!” DGIF wrote on Facebook.
The department says mountain lions in Virginia are a myth and they have received no credible reports of sightings.
In the DGIF Outdoor Report from last year, they noted that mountain lions were extirpated from the state by the 1880’s.
“According to Handley and Patton’s “Wild Mammals of Virginia” published in 1947, the last Virginia mountain lion was killed in Washington County in 1882,” said the report.
