There's no truth to the rash of Internet alerts that a large mountain lion was killed in a vehicle collision last week in West Virginia.

The hoax depicts photos of a man posing beside a dead cougar with text claiming the images were taken between Grantsville and Walker, W.Va. The photo is authentic, but it shows Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Jason Ellico with a road kill west of Flagstaff, Ariz.

"That cat was killed a few months ago north of Williams [Ariz.]," said Arizona Game and Fish Department public information officer Lynda Lambert. "It was hit by a car and the man in the picture is the DPS officer who responded to the call. On the side, he's a taxidermist and he offered to skin the cat for free for the people who hit it."

"That's me in the picture," confirmed Officer Ellico. "It was a big cat, but we have bigger out here."

He was unaware that text accompanying the photo had been altered claiming the kill occurred in West Virginia.

Officials from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and Pennsylvania Game Commission said they had received many phone calls and e-mails requesting information about the hoax, which began circulating last week.

The Eastern cougar is federally listed as "endangered" in West Virginia, and sporadic, unconfirmed reports of its presence have been recorded.

In another version of the same hoax, the text accompanying the image claims the cat was killed in Arkansas.