Former NFL star comes under fire for killing mountain lion which ‘wreaked havoc’ on rural neighbourhood

Former NFL player Derek Wolfe has been slammed on social media this week, after sharing a photo revealing he had shot and killed a mountain lion out in Colorado.

Wolfe, who retired in July last year, played for both the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens during his time in the NFL, and now spends a fair bit of his time going out and killing wild animals.

In a caption accompanying a picture of him holding up the corpse of the giant lion, Wolfe claimed the killing of the animal on Tuesday was simply “predator control”.

“I got a call … to see if I wanted to stalk a giant Tom (male mountain lion) who has been wreaking havoc in a rural neighbourhood. He had already killed two of her dogs and was living under her porch, nervous what he might do next.

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“We found a fresh 4x4 mule deer he had just killed. We hiked straight up 2,500ft and down the other side, then back up again to 9,600ft. Exhausted, dehydrated, cramping, I drew back my [bow] and sent an [arrow] through him.

“Then I had to crawl backwards down the mountain with him to get him to the truck. I fell 10ft off a rock face on the way down lol,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday.

Wolfe has since been widely criticised for his actions, with one writing on social media writing the sportsman “didn’t have to kill it”.

“Looks like they were in the cat’s territory. Leave that beautiful animal alone,” commented another.

And of course, there’s a likelihood Wolfe knows how controversial his actions are by the fact he has limited his comments on Instagram so only specific accounts can comment.

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