For decades, wildlife agencies in several Midwestern states have denied there are wild mountain lions in the region. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports, the debate is heating up again following the release of a recent video:
Transcript
For decades, wildlife agencies in several Midwestern states have denied there are wild mountain lions in the region. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports, the debate is heating up again following the release of a recent video:
Carol Stokes regularly videotapes deer and other animals as they emerge from the
trees near her southern Michigan home. But in April, Stokes filmed two large, sandy colored cats picking through a cornfield.
(sound of video: “Are they dogs or coyotes? They look like lions…”)
Pat Rusz is with the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy. He says the cats are cougars and his organization has gotten thousands of reports from people who’ve spotted mountain lions in Michigan.
“This is not a mysterious, ghostlike animal, as sometimes is written about it. The things leave tracks, they leave other signs that are highly visible and in some cases they walk right out in front of people. The problem is, is that when one sees a cougar or sees a track, one is simply not believed.”
The debate over mountain lions has raged for years in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Wildlife agencies in those states say people who’ve spotted cougars have probably seen a large dog or a house cat.
Todd Hogrefe is with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He says residents may release a pet cougar into the wild from time to time, but the DNR is really waiting to see the carcass of a cougar before they’ll draw any conclusions.
“We don’t dispute that there may be cougars in the state of Michigan, but the question is whether or not those cougars represent a viable, reproducing population. And at this time, the DNR doesn’t feel as though there is strong enough evidence to make that conclusion.”
Wildlife agencies from neighboring states also say they’re waiting for more definitive evidence. The Michigan DNR has sent Carol Stokes’ video to 14 independent cougar experts for analysis.
The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy says state officials should end the debate and start implementing policies to protect this endangered species.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.