Huge mountain lion freed from bobcat trap in Utah

PINE VALLEY, Utah, March 15 (UPI) -- A Utah conservation officer posted video of a tense rescue involving a large cougar that became ensnared by a bobcat trap.

The video posted to YouTube shows Division of Wildlife Resources conservation officer Mark Ekins and a trapper working to free the mountain lion from the bobcat trap in the Pine Valley Mountains on Dec. 17.

The men use catch poles to coax the cougar into moving into a position that would allow them to free its paw from the trap. The mountain lion initially resists, but is eventually freed and runs away.

Ekins said the cougar was larger than most of the big cats he is called to free from traps.

"I've probably only done three in my career that were as big as the one you saw. That was a really big one," he told KSL-TV. "Anytime we do something that the public doesn't see all the time, I will video some of it."