What started as a tip from a shopper ended with environmental officers seizing a mounted mountain lion head and charging an antique store owner in Sullivan County.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says the investigation began after a frequent customer tipped off authorities about a mounted mountain lion head being offered for sale at an antique shop in Mamakating.

Authorities say an undercover officer visited the store and found the mounted head in the back of the business and made a deal to buy it. Officers then confiscated the mounted head as evidence.

Officials say the store owner and an employee claimed they didn't know it was illegal to sell the animal's head.

The owner was charged with the illegal commercialization of a prohibited species.