Wild Cougar Cubs Spotted in Western Michigan for the First Time in Over 100 Years

Wild cougar cubs have been seen in the western part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the first time in over a century.

Last week state biologists confirmed that the spotted cubs — thought to be between seven and nine weeks old — were living on private property in Ontonagon County, a press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said.

“It’s pretty exciting, considering this could be the first known cougar reproduction in modern times in the western Great Lakes states,” said wildlife biologist Brian Roell, a DNR large carnivore specialist and leader of the cub verification team, in the press release. “It really shows that we have a unique place in Michigan where someone has a chance to see a wolf, a moose and a cougar in the wild. It’s something that should be celebrated, that we have the habitat to support an elusive animal like this.”

A local resident took photos of the cubs on March 6, which Roell and the team used to verify the cubs’ presence in the area.

Originally native to Michigan, cougars were hunted to extinction in the state around the early 1900s. The last wild cougar who was legally taken was near Newberry in 1906, DNR said on its website.

“There have been many confirmed cougar sightings since 2008, including two illegal harvests in the Upper Peninsula,” the website said. “This situation is not unique to Michigan, but has been occurring in many other mid-western and eastern states, as young males disperse from core range in the western United States.”

Although cougars have been spotted in Michigan in the recent past, it was the first verified sighting of cougar cubs since their populations were decimated, Roell said.

The photographs were of the cubs without their mother, and they have not been seen again since March 6. Extremely dependent on their mothers, cougar cubs often remain with them throughout their first two years.

“Those young cougars are very vulnerable right now,” Roell said. “We don’t know where they are or if they’re even alive. Mother Nature can be very cruel.”

While cougars are Michigan natives, most of those there now seem to be transient, dispersing across the border from Western states.

Roell said there have been 132 reports of adult cougars verified by the DNR, but DNA testing had only confirmed male cougars to date.

Because they are listed as endangered in Michigan, it is illegal to harass or hunt cougars, including attempting to locate their den, Roell said.

Cougar sightings in Michigan can be logged through the Eyes in the Field reporting system, operated by the DNR.

Cougar cubs photographed by a Michigan resident who asked to remain anonymous. Michigan Department of Natural Resources