Missouri Man Convicted in the Illegal Killing of the 800-mile Mountain Lion

In a story dating back to 2023 when a young mountain lion kitten was first ear-tagged in Nebraska, the man who carelessly (and illegally) ended its life has finally been convicted.

The suspect, identified as 29-year-old Joseph Licklider, was charged back in December with taking a protected species of wildlife after he offered conservation officers a full confession about shooting the animal while deer hunting in Iron County, Missouri. Authorities went on to say that Licklider stated that the lion had passed below the tree stand he and another hunter were hunting from and as it walked away from them, he decided to shoot it. Without any real motive for shooting the cougar (like threatening of life), Licklider admitted that he was simply too excited to have seen the lion in the first place, that he decided to shoot it as it walked away.

“I also noticed that it had double ear tags NE125, which indicate that it was marked by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission,” Deputy Brett Barton said.  “He eventually admitted that he and [Confidential Witness] were sitting in a tree stand, hunting deer in Iron County when the mountain lion passed under the stand and walked away from them out to a logging road.

“Mr. Licklider stated that he got excited at what it was, stood up, and then decided to shoot it as it was walking off. He said he shot it with a .308 and it ran approximately 50 yards before it died. He provided a voluntary written statement which was consistent with his verbal statement.”

The investigation later revealed that Licklider showed little remorse for the killing. Despite his confession, officers later found photos posted to Facebook showing Licklider and his friends posing in celebration with the dead lion. According to reports, the defendant's wife shared photos of the dead lion in the back of a pick up truck to her personal profile and in Facebook groups such as “MO Buck Hunters” and “Women Who Shoot, Hunt, and Fish”, garnering some unwanted attention.

The animal, which was ear-tagged by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission when it was a kitten, was set to be a part of an annual study by state biologists. First tagged in March 2023 near the Niobrara Valley Preserve, the cat was later found to have traveled nearly 800 miles to where it was shot in Missouri.

"We never saw that kitten again," Sam Wilson, manager of the state’s Furbearer and Carnivore Program said. "The next time I got information about that cat was that it had been killed in Missouri."

Licklider finally had his day in Iron County Court last month where he entered a guilty plea to killing a state protected animal. As part of his plea deal, Licklider was saddled with a $2,000 fine for the incident, was forced to surrender his trusty Savage .308 rifle and lost his hunting license for a one year period.