A cougar has been 
spotted 
for the first time 
in years
 by a Michigan 
Department 
of Natural 
Resources' (DNR) 
camera.
The animal was recorded 
wandering through a 
wooded area in Gogebic County 
in the Upper Peninsula 
on the evening of Oct. 1.Gogebic 
County is the westernmost
 county in the Upper Peninsula 
in the U.S. state of Michigan. 
Although there have been 38 
confirmed reports of cougars 
since 2008 — 37 in the Upper 
Peninsula — this is the first 
time since 2009 that the DNR 
has snagged a shot of the 
animal in action among its 
3 million game camera images, 
said Kevin Swanson, wildlife 
management specialist with 
the DNR's Bear & Wolf 
Program. 
"They're so rare in the Upper 
Peninsula," Swanson said. 
"These are dispersers,
 transients coming from the 
Dakotas, from northwest 
Nebraska. We just get a few 
moving through the Peninsula."
It's impossible to say whether 
the cougar was male or 
female, the DNR said.
Cougars are also known as 
mountain lions or pumas, 
according to the San Diego
 Zoo, and have the largest 
geographic range of any 
land mammal. The shared 
names sometimes lead to 
confusion.
Cougars were once native 
to Michigan but were largely
 expunged from the area 
around the turn of the century. 
It's thought that any cougars
 in the state now are 
released pets or transient 
animals that have traveled
 more than 900 miles from 
the nearest breeding 
populations in the Dakotas.
In addition to their own 
images, the DNR reviews 
hundreds of submitted 
photos yearly. The majority, 
Swanson said, are photos 
of coyotes, bobcats, 
domestic cats and even dogs.
"There's a common 
misconception among 
the public 
and organizations that 
believe we have a breeding 
population here in Michigan, 
and we have no 
evidence to suggest that," 
Swanson said.