Game, Fish and Parks officers killed a mountain lion that was treed by a dog east of Belle Fourche.  Conservation Officer Bill Eastman said the lion was near a flock of 60 pregnant sheep, four homes and grazing horses and cattle, so it met the criteria of having to be destroyed.

Officers shot the 2-year-old male lion Monday afternoon after a small dog forced it up a tree.  There had been several reports the past several weeks from rural Belle Fourche residents of a mountain lion in the area.  The lion's carcass was taken to Rapid City for analysis and will be sent to a laboratory at South Dakota State University to determine its age and genetics.