A cougar was hit by a car and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol said a vehicle was heading west on Interstate 394 near Theodore Wirth Parkway at 2:15 a.m. when it struck a cougar, swerved and hit a concrete barrier.

The cougar was killed on impact. The driver, a 53-year-old man, was uninjured, officials say.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says they have possession of the cougar while the investigation unfolds. The cougar, an approximately 2-year-old male, will be brought to DNR Wildlife Research in Grand Rapids to undergo a necropsy.

DNR said it has confirmed with Nebraska Game and Fish that the cougar had been tagged in northwest Nebraska.

“It was tagged as a kitten in 2021 in northwestern Nebraska by the Nebraska Game and Fish Department,” Dan Stark, MN DNR’s carnivore specialist, said.

While it’s rare for the big cat to be spotted in the Twin Cities, Stark says traveling long distances is in their blood. He added there are no signs Cougars have made Minnesota home.

“There just hasn’t been any patterns that demonstrate that there’s resident cougars in Minnesota,” Stark said.

This comes just a day after officials in Minneapolis issued a warning to residents about a cougar spotted in the Lowry Hill neighborhood.

RELATED: Minneapolis issues warning after cougar spotted in Lowry Hill area

On Tuesday, Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, along with the DNR, warned that the large cat may be living or moving around the 1700 block of Logan Avenue South.

“I’m sad that it made it all the way up here and then died,” said Robyn Breuggeman, who lives in the Lowry Hill neighborhood where the cougar was spotted.

“We will be talking about that cat for a long time,” she added. “We all have these great pictures with our hands next to its print.”

While she says there were concerns from neighbors, especially those with pets, Breuggeman said all wanted a better outcome for their surprise visitor.  

“It’s also just this beautiful animal that we don’t get to experience here. So I think we were all a little excited about it, and you know, we all wished it well,” she said.

It is not known if the incidents involve the same cat. More information on cougars in Minnesota can be found online.

A video of the aftermath of the crash shared on social media can be viewed below. WARNING: This video may be graphic to some.