Humankind has repulse many animals to extinction , frommammothsand thylacines topassenger pigeons . However , some metal money have only gonelocally extinctand can re - emerge in other areas if conditions switch . Now , for the first metre in 100 years , cougar cubs have been spotted roaming wild in Michigan .
Two cubs were tell apart on private realm in Ontonagon County and are thought to be only 7 - 9 weeks old . They were identified as cougar greenhorn from pic admit by a local . Cougars have many names , includingmountain lions , panther , and catamounts , but are all the same speciesPuma concolor .
“ It ’s middling exciting , debate this could be the first experience catamount reproduction in advanced time in the westerly Great Lakes states , ” said Brian Roell , large carnivore medical specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources ( DNR ) , referring to Michigan , Wisconsin , and Minnesota , in astatement . “ It really shows that we have a unparalleled office in Michigan where someone has a chance to see a savage , a Alces alces , and a painter in the wild . It ’s something that should be lionize , that we have the habitat to support an elusive animal like this . ”
The cubs were thought to be between 7 and 9 weeks old.Image Credit: The Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Despite this initial show of good word , the cubs were seen without their mother and remain vulnerable . Typically , cougar cubs can stay with their female parent for the first two geezerhood . “ Those young cougars are very vulnerable justly now , ” Roell said . “ We do n’t sleep together where they are [ now ] or if they ’re even alive . female parent Nature can be very cruel . ”
Cougars are the world’sfourth largestwildcat behind lion , tigers , and Felis onca . However , they are famously elusive . They were hunted to extinction in Michigan around the former 1900s . The last known end of a mountain lion in Michigan occurred in1906near Newberry .
More lately , though , the DNR has verify study of 132 adult cougars , and desoxyribonucleic acid testing has constitute only males in the area .
Sightings for catamount can be logged on a DNR system calledEyes In The Field . Felis concolor remain on the lean of endangered mammals within the state , which means they are protected by law from those trying to hunt them .
