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Updated: 7:27 AM CST Mar 1, 2023Infinite Scroll Enabled

Nicole Tam 

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DES MOINES, Iowa —

Mountain lions, pumas, cougars, panthers. We all have our own way to identify these big cats that are being spotted across Iowa.

One big cat, officially known as Cougar NE 110, recently traveled more than 700 miles across three states from August to October. Part of that journey included nearly two months across southern Iowa through Adams, Union, Clarke, Lucas, Monroe and Wapello counties.

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“It’s not uncommon for young male mountain lions when they hit the kind of teenage years to really take off and go hundreds and hundreds of miles,” said Sam Wilson, with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

NE 110’s journey started in Nebraska. We know that because Wilson and his team trapped and attached a GPS tracking collar to the cat before releasing him.

“Being able to watch these animals move across the landscape, doing what they naturally do, is really fascinating,” said Wilson.

Technology is what allows Iowa Department of Natural Resources biologist Vince Evelsizer to trace this cat’s every step.

“That helps with longevity of tracking, ease of tracking, efficiency of tracking with getting, you know, remote location points on an animal that’s very secretive,” said Evelsizer.

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Many of you are also monitoring these cats’ whereabouts, Iowans regularly share with KCCI their own pictures and video of mountain lions captured on trail cameras. NE 110 himself may have even been caught on camera in Van Buren County. The people who spotted him say they’re always on the lookout for these beautiful creatures.

They’re beautiful, but are they dangerous? The DNR says there have been 63 documented injuries nationwide in the past 110 years but none in Iowa. If you come across one, the DNR says you should look as big as possible so spread your jacket, wave your arms while facing the mountain lion and yell at it. Evelsizer explains it’s because the creatures typically do not pursue something that already sees them.

But why are we seeing these big cats more often, anyway? The DNR says mountain lions were once native to our state, but the population was wiped out when European settlers moved to the Midwest in the 1850s and started killing them. The population in states like Nebraska and South Dakota finally started to rebound 20 years ago.

“When that happens, the odds of getting a dispersing animal mountain lions from the western states coming east to the Midwest is higher,” said Evelsizer.

The males are looking for a new place to settle down in hopes of finding a habitat with a lot of female cats. When they’re passing through Iowa, it’s often just a place to stop and get a good meal.

“The number one prey animal for mountain lions is known to be deer,” said Evelsizer.

Evelsizer hopes his research can lead to answers on the why the animals go where they go and eat what they eat. If researchers get their hands on a carcass, it can answer the most questions about these elusive creatures.

As for NE 110, his trip ended in Illinois when the DNR there decided he was a public safety threat and trapped him. He was sent to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana, where he’s been living since October.

“It’s sad and unfortunate that he has been brought in into captivity. And so we are we are trying our very utmost to provide him with a life that will be as comfortable as possible,” said Joe Taft, the founder of Exotic Feline Rescue Center.

Taft says the mountain lion was covered with ticks and parasites when he arrived but is now okay.

They’re building him an enclosure and hope to give NE 110 a new identity based on where he’s been. Among the choices: Omaha, Neil for Nebraska, Illinois, little buddy and Springfield.

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Story by Kimberlee Speakman • Yesterday 1:45 PM

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Some lucky sheep in New Jersey are starting a new life after escaping a slaughterhouse.

ABC 7 NY© Provided by People

Seven sheep — some with tags on their ears and a red spot on their wool coats, marks used to signify when animals are for slaughter — escaped from a slaughterhouse into Paterson, New Jersey, on Monday, according to WABC-TV.

Residents spotted six of the wooly animals roaming around River Street near a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Sealy Mattress store and called animal control to pick them up. 

According to the news station, one sheep even made a break for it, running a few miles north to Hawthorne, New Jersey, before it was captured in nearby Fair Lawn.

RELATED: Kentucky Police Help Reunite Monkey with its Family After Animal Went Missing During Car Crash

“The Paterson Police Department did a phenomenal job. We took two of the sheep, and ended up putting them in the back of a police car. We escorted them up here with their lights and [sirens] on,” John DeCando with Paterson Animal Control told WABC-TV.

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Paterson Animal Control decided that the brave sheep would not return to the slaughterhouse and instead contacted Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in Sussex County for assistance. The facility agreed to take the fluffy animals in and care for them for the rest of their lives, per the news station.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that [the sheep are] not going to be on someone’s plate,” DeCando said.

Paterson Animal Control did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional details about the rescue.

RELATED Video: New York Animal Shelter Seeking Forever Home for ‘Fire-Breathing Demon’ Dog Called ‘Ralphie’

Mike, a Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue employee, told the station that the sheep likely hadn’t had the best life.

“These guys, I hate to say, at no time have they gotten on a trail or has their life gotten better,” he said.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

However, the animals now have something to look forward to — a barn of their own on a 600-acre sanctuary.

Read the original article on People

Andrew Joslin and Linda Amato of Cape Ann Wildlife had to capture a bald eagle Monday in a cemetery in Arlington, Massachusetts; the bird of prey will undergo intense treatment

By Michael Rosenfield • Published 1 hour ago • Updated 41 mins ago

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-bald-eagle-dies/2985657/

A critically ill bald eagle has died, days after it was captured by wildlife experts in Massachusetts in an attempt to save it from a likely case of poisoning.

The eagle was caught Monday morning in a cemetery in Arlington, after showing signs of poor health since Friday. It could no longer fly when experts from the Cape Wildlife Center were called in to snag it.

Referred to as M.K., the eagle began to bleed internally Tuesday night, the center said Wednesday, calling it a “catastrophic” spontaneous hemorrhaging. Veterinarians quickly tried to clear the bird’s airway but she quickly died.

“It was always hard to watch a patient in this condition, but MK was particularly devastating. We know how well loved she is here in the Baystate and how many people her presence inspired to connect with our natural environments and the wildlife in them,” the center’s post said.

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M.K. is about 8 years old; experts had said they believe she likely ate a rat that had ingested rat poison — something that’s becoming a big problem for birds who prey on rodents — and that there was a good chance she could be rehabilitated if she survived a couple of days.

2:15

Bald Eagle Rescued After Being Sickened by Rat Poison

Wildlife experts had to capture a sickened bald eagle in order to treat the bird of prey.

The Cape Wildlife Center said Wednesday it was still waiting for diagnostics on the eagle.

The center urged supporters to advocate for second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides to be banned — the form of pest control is currently only approved for commercial and structural uses.

“It is time to restrict the use of these poisons. Rodent control does not need to come at the expense of our natural heritage and ecosystem,” the center said.

3:17

Mass. Lawmakers Look to Curb Use of Rat Poison

Wildlife advocates say rat poison is killing other animals at an alarming rate.

• Published2 days ago

Share https://www.bbc.com/news/health-64763625

By Michelle Roberts

Digital health editor

UK health experts are sharing details of their Covid-style plans against bird flu, including modelling for the unlikely scenario that it could mutate and cause a pandemic in people.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says there is no evidence H5N1 virus is an imminent threat or can spread between people, despite some getting sick after contact with infected birds.

But there is no room for complacency.

One expert told the BBC “we must prepare for the worst” just in case.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging heightened vigilance from all countries, following the death of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia from H5N1.

The girl’s father has also tested positive, according to Cambodia’s health minister.

Investigators are working to establish if infected birds were the cause, rather than a case of human-to-human transmission.

Humans rarely get bird flu, but when they do it is usually from coming into direct contact with infected birds.

Since late 2021, the world has been experiencing one of the worst global avian influenza outbreaks on record, with tens of millions of poultry culled and mass wild bird die-offs.

And there have been a few infections in some mammals, including foxes and otters in the UK.

Dr Meera Chand, from the UKHSA, said all of the latest evidence suggested H5N1 could not currently spread easily to people.

“However, viruses constantly evolve, and we remain vigilant for any evidence of changing risk to the population, as well as working with partners to address gaps in the scientific evidence.”

In preparation for a worst-case scenario of human-to-human spread, the UKHSA is modelling:

• How many might become infected and get very sick
• Whether lateral flow tests and blood tests would be helpful
• What genetic mutations might signal an increased risk to human health

When the Covid pandemic hit, there were no suitable vaccines available to fight that virus. But for bird flu, there are already several good candidates that might help.

WHO-affiliated labs already hold two flu virus strains that are closely related to the circulating H5N1 virus, that manufacturers can use to develop new shots if needed, experts said at a meeting on Friday.

Prof Peter Openshaw, from Imperial College London, is a member of Nervtag – the group that advises the British government on new and emerging threats from respiratory viruses.

He told the BBC that the fact that we are still in a Covid pandemic in no way lessened the possibility of another pandemic coming from elsewhere.

“We absolutely need to watch this one,” he said.

“The good news at the moment is that there’s no evidence of human-to-human spread.

“We need to prepare for the worst but obviously hope for the best, to use the old phrase.”

Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, part of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine team, told the BBC that bird flu had “pandemic potential” as humans did not have immunity.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “In the human population at the moment there is no immunity against this strain of H5N1 because we never had an outbreak of that in humans.

“So there’s just no immunity, and that’s why it has pandemic potential… and why it’s so important to be vigilant.”

“Not another pandemic” might well be the exasperated response of many to talk of the risks from bird flu.

Covid fatigue is understandable but the H5N1 virus is a real concern to many scientists who monitor global disease threats.

Thankfully, the virus does not spread easily from birds to humans, requiring close contact. That would need to change if the threat of a human pandemic was to be realised, which would require the virus to mutate.

Since 2003 the WHO has recorded 868 cases in humans, of which 457 were fatal, so the mortality rate is more than 50%.

Scientists want to see better surveillance, more investment in vaccines and antivirals – so that should the worst ever happen, the world will be better prepared than it was when Covid emerged.