Cougar sightings nearing last year’s number, at 20 sightings so far this year

By Myesha Johnson, MediaNews Group

Cougar sightings throughout Michigan are nearing final yr’s numbers, with 20 sightings to this point this yr, together with 21 reported in 2024, in response to wildlife officers.

The elevated sightings could possibly be on account of extra video cameras on trails and probably extra mountain lions touring by the Higher Peninsula into Michigan, authorities stated.

Simply because cougar sightings are rising does not imply there are extra cougars within the state, stated Brian Roell, the Division of Pure Sources’ massive carnivore specialist.

In 2024, the Division of Pure Sources reported 21 cougar sightings. There have been twenty sightings to this point this yr.

“We’re not speaking a few inhabitants of cougars. They’re simply transient animals coming into the Higher Peninsula,” Roell stated. He added that a number of extra cougars might have come from North or South Dakota and Nebraska, with a wholesome rising inhabitants of cougars in Nebraska probably shifting east.

The sightings, doubtless of male cats and some cubs within the Higher Peninsula, are doubtless movies or images from hunters and wildlife fans who’ve seen the identical cat a number of instances on the identical path.

“Younger male mountain lions are hardwired to maneuver, so it is greater than doubtless they’re, however we haven’t any proof of that,” he stated.

The 2 cubs noticed within the Higher Peninsula on March 6 haven’t been photographed since, so the DNR is unsure about their destiny.

The variety of observations has been rising since 2021. In 2021 there have been eight; in 2022 there have been ten; in 2023 there have been seventeen; in 2024, 21.

Roell stated the mountain lion depend is probably going within the single digits, however the division is uncertain of the precise quantity.

“There are extra cameras and perhaps a number of extra cougars coming into Michigan. It is not like we are able to say there are lots of extra cougars within the state than earlier years. We’re nonetheless speaking a few very small inhabitants as a result of we maintain seeing the identical cats over and over,” he stated.

In response to the DNR web site, cougars are native to Michigan however have been exterminated across the early 1900s. The final recognized wild cougar legally captured within the state occurred in 1906 close to Newberry.

Observations may be uploaded to DNR’s Eyes within the Area web site.