Officials verify cougar sighting in eastern U.P.

Jim Lynch / The Detroit News

Chippewa County -- Most of the time, reports of cougar sightings that filter in to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources turn out to be hoaxes. This week, however, state officials have confirmed the presence of one of these large cats in the eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula -- a first for that region.

Wildlife biologists have previously confirmed only three other cougars in Michigan but did not have photographic evidence of a fourth. A trail camera on private property in Chippewa County caught a cougar on the move during the night last month.

"We don't have scientific evidence in Michigan of an established cougar breeding population," said Mary Detloff, a Department of Natural Resources spokesperson. "We feel the cougars that are in Michigan are dispersed animals that have travelled from the closest populations in North Dakota and South Dakota."

Along with the photographic evidence, state officials came across cougar tracks in two separate areas recently -- one set in DeTour during the last week of October and another set in Gulliver earlier this week. Both sites are also in Chippewa County meaning they could be from the same animal.

The DNR released photos of the prints Wednesday showing the outline of a four-toed paw roughly four inches across. The agency, however, is not releasing the name of the private landowner who caught the cougar on camera for privacy reasons.

Because cougars are such a rarity here, Michigan has no wildlife management plan for them.

"In Michigan, they are a protected species," Detloff said. "You can't shoot them unless they are causing grave human danger."

The last documented cougar shooting in Michigan took place in 1906.

jlynch@detnews.com 313-222-2034