Gannet Peak Elementary gets a mascot from Wyoming Game and Fish Department in their lunchroom. Last week, a taxidermied mountain lion was donated and hung for display at Gannet Peak Elementary School in Lander, Wyoming. The elementary school’s mascot is a cougar but they did not have one at the school.

Sometimes when Game and Fish biologists and wardens remove or confiscate animals, they can be preserved and used for education or display. As was the case a little over a year ago when this male lion was acquired. The Lander Game and Fish office applied for a grant to get the animal taxidermied for the elementary school to hang up.

Leslie Voxland, Gannet Peak’s principal kept the lion a surprise for teachers and students. Taxidermist Kim Lutz, and others hung the lion after school on Tuesday, and students were thrilled to discover the majestic carnivore hung up in their lunchroom on Wednesday. On Friday, Large Carnivore Supervisor Dan Thompson visited the school and talked to the kindergarten through third grade students about mountain lion ecology and safety.

“It is always nice when we can find a use like this for animals that are lethally removed or confiscated. Elementary school kids now have a physical embodiment of their mas