Nebraska mountain lion now looking for a name after 700-mile journey

Back in the fall, the big cat made its way from the scenic Niobrara River valley all the way to suburban Springfield, Illinois, according to the GPS tracker that Nebraska Game and Parks had tagged it with a year prior.

"A lot of people were watching him," said Joe Taft, director of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, Indiana, where the mountain lion has been since October.

When the lion overstayed its welcome near Springfield, it was sedated by federal wildlife officials, who offered to return it to Nebraska.

Nebraska declined.

So officials turned to Taft and his sanctuary. The 260-acre sanctuary took it in and gave it an examination. The prognosis was far from dire: a thin scar down its back — likely from running under a barbed-wire fence — some ticks and a little extra weight.

"I'm incredibly impressed with this animal; he crossed both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers," Taft said. "That kind of determination is rare."

Since both Nebraska and Illinois deemed the mountain lion too dangerous to be released, the sanctuary began building a $50,000 enclosure for long-term care in November. Over an acre in size, the enclosure will have climbing structures and a den area, but will not be visible to the public.

Taft says the process has been long, but three of the four walls are complete and the interior is nearly finished.

"The hard part is that it's in what used to be a corn field, so it doesn't take much rain to make it pretty wet."

The enclosure will have much better drainage once completed, Taft said.

In the meantime, officials have decided that NE-110 (the numbers on its ear tag) will no longer suffice as a name for the permanent resident.

The sanctuary has turned to the public for help with naming it.

Candidates include Capone, Abe, Little Buddy, Neil, Springfield and Omaha.

The big cat was never seen in Omaha, but Nebraska's biggest city could become its moniker if the public so chooses. Taft said he didn't have any input in the name choices.

"My keepers are the ones behind that," he said.

To vote, a donation must be made from the sanctuary's website. Every $5 counts as one vote. The donations will fund the sanctuary's care for the mountain lion.

Voting ends March 8.