A Kentucky Fish and Wildlife official shot and killed a mountain lion after a concerned caller spotted it in northern Bourbon County.
A spokesman for the agency says officials hope to determine whether the lion was a captive animal that got loose, or a free-ranging wild lion.
An officer went to the area on Monday afternoon after a woman reported seeing the animal in a tree.
Fish and Wildlife spokesman Mark Marraccini says the lion roaming free was a public safety issue.
Marraccini says the state agency periodically gets reports of people seeing mountain lions, but he doubted that Kentucky has a population of the animals.