Ontario Cougar sighting?......Ministry of Natural Resources is evluating a photo snapped by Trapper Jim Turncliffe on November 26...........The Ministry has been conducting a Cougar Study since 2006 to get a handle on the myriad of reported sightings that are called in each year, 500 over the past 10 years...............

Cougar sightings verified in MNR study

 

A Ministry of Natural Resources study looking at the presence of cougars in Ontario is about to be published. It comes as the MNR investigates a possible cougar sighting in North Bay. A man living northeast of the Jack Garland Airport claims to have taken the photo of the cat that entered his dog's outdoor kennel, about two weeks ago.

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A report detailing evidence of the presence of cougars in Ontario will be published later this month.
For years, experts have been struggling to prove cougars are, in fact, permanant residents in the province. To put an end to the speculation, the Ministry of Natural Resources launched a formal study in 2006.

Dr Rick Rosatte, a research scientist and a cougar expert with the MNR, said more than 500 pieces of cougar evidence were collected between 1991 and 2010.

"The evidence consisted of DNA, scat, hair from cougar, photographs of tracks that were verified to be cougar as well," Rosatte said. "We have a couple of photographs of cougar as well as several MNR biologist cougar sightings, as well, that were verified."

Recent sighting

The study comes as the MNR investigates a possible cougar sighting in North Bay.
A man living north-east of the Jack Garland Airport claims to have taken the photo of the cat on his property about two weeks ago.

Jolanta Kowalski, a spokesperson with the MNR, said experts have confirmed the large tan cat in the photo is a cougar.But she said MNR officials haven't confirmed yet where or when the photo was taken."We've been doing interviews with neighbours," she said."We also check things like, does the photo match what was seen on the property by our MNR staff. We've also put up a trail cam to see if we can get a shot of a cougar, and we're also checking things like snow conditions, to see if things match-up."

Kowalski said the MNR receives a number of unconfirmed cougar-sighting reports every year, "but we don't have tons of evidence."She said they have collected some scat and some DNA.
"But when we try to follow up, we're never able to match things," she added. "We do have one confirmed photo in Ontario [and] one paw print. We definitely get cougar sighting calls, but the vast majority of them turn out to be nothing."

As for the MNR report, Rosatte said evidence of the presence of cougars came from all areas of the province — from Red Lake to Cornwall.The results of the study will be published in the Canadian Field Naturalist journal later this month.

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Ministry researching cougars in area

Officials expected to confirm Monday whether photo is real

By JENNIFER HAMILTON-McCHARLES The Nugget

The Ministry of Natural Resources is expected to confirm Monday whether a photograph of a cougar taken by a Widdifield Station Road man is real. Jim Turncliffe told The Nugget Wednesday he took the photo Nov. 26.The longtime trapper was convinced footprints he had been seeing on his property for two or three years were those of a large cat.

Turncliffe said he woke Nov. 26 and noticed a large animal in his dog pen. After realizing it wasn't his shepherd-husky mix, he ran outside and snapped a photo.Two ministry officers were sent to Turncliffe's property this week and one confirmed the cat in the photograph is a cougar.

Jolanta Kowalski, a senior spokeswoman with the MNR in Toronto, said the ministry receives a fair number of photos of cougars, but 99% of the time, they turn out to be hoaxes.The MNR is investigating the authenticity of the most recent photograph.

This isn't the first time there have been cougar sightings in the area. Last winter, there were at least two reports on MacPherson Drive toward Centennial Crescent and in Bonfield. And in the fall of 2008, there were several reports of cougar sightings in North Bay in the fall of 2008
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The ministry has been conducting research studies on cougars throughout the North Bay area.
Wildlife camps have been set up in remote locations throughout the area. Due to the location of the camps, they are only visited once a month.

The camps are all equipped with surveillance cameras and motion detectors. A ministry spokeswoman said Friday she didn't know how many surveillance camps there are or their locations. She also didn't know when the research study began.