NEW TOWN (AP) - A dead mountain lion was found frozen in the ice at Lake Sakakawea near here.

Two New Town residents reported seeing the lion's paw sticking through the ice on Saturday. The carcass has been turned over to the state Game and Fish Department for testing.

"All I thought was, 'My goodness' when I saw that paw sticking out of the ice," said Fred Poitra, Three Affiliated Tribes game and fish director.

Poitra said the animal didn't have any visible wounds. He said it may have fallen through the ice and died.

The area where the lion was found is about 25 miles from where a cow was found dead in a pasture southeast of Tioga on March 20.

John Paulson, district supervisor for the federal Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services, said the cow showed signs of a cougar attack, including a bite on the neck and claw puncture wounds.

Wildlife officials believe North Dakota now has a breeding population of mountain lions.

The state Game and Fish Department has held mountain lion hunting seasons the past two years to try to gather more information about the cougar population. Five lions were killed during each season, the majority of them west of the Missouri River.

So far this year, three mountain lions also have died after becoming snared in bobcat traps in western North Dakota.