This announcement is on the heels of MDNR Director Rebecca HumphreyÕs statement in Mid-January that the Department acknowledged the existence of individual cougars but that Michigan does not have a cougar population. ÒThis piecemeal release of information about the cougar population in Michigan is unacceptable,Ó said Dennis Fijalkowski, Executive Director of MWC. ÒSound wildlife management requires review of the total evidence of a population, not treating each piece of evidence as an isolated event. The public deserves betterÓ, he said.

The MDNRÕs latest cougar acknowledgement came as a result of their requesting DNA testing of hair samples taken from the headlight of a car by a Michigan State Police Trooper after a motorist reported hitting a large cat on November 2, 2004, in Menominee County. When the results came back positive for cougar, the MDNR acknowledged the presence of a single cougar, not a population.

ÒThe MDNRÕs statement that this evidence merely points to a single cougar is again misleading,Ó said Fijalkowski. ÒThe agency continues to ignore a long history of credible cougar sightings and physical evidence in Menominee County as well as many other areas in both peninsulas of Michigan.Ó Note that within eleven miles of where the motorist struck the cougar, MWC has previously documented:

• Bone fragments from a gunshot-wounded cougar in 1984. MDNR requested an analysis by Colorado State University, which determined by high resolution electrophoresis that the sample had a Òpositive identity to mountain lion.Ó

• A cougar scat was analyzed by Central Michigan University in 2002 and was confirmed cougar by DNA analysis. This is the same genetics lab that confirmed MDNRÕs cougar hair analysis yesterday.

• A young cougar was captured on home video tape in 2002, only 11 miles away.

• Since the 1950s, local citizens continue to report numerous cougar sightings, including females with cubs.

And, in 1998 in Alcona County, MDNR wildlife biologist Lawrence Robinson reported sighting a cougar, and sent a memo asking his superiors, John Hendrickson, Tim Reis and Glen Matthews, how to get the information and cougar track photographs into MDNR files without the media finding out.

And in April of 2004, 500 miles southeast in Monroe County, a housewife captured a pair of cougars on videotape, which proved to be approximately six feet long each. Incredibly, MDNR staff called them Òhouse cats.Ó

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy again calls on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to formally acknowledge the presence of a wild, resident and breeding cougar population in Michigan and to develop a strategy for its protection and management and public education.

MWC is a non-profit environmental organization based in Bath near Lansing, whose primary mission is to restore the wildlife heritage of Michigan. The Conservancy has been researching the question of a Michigan cougar population for seven years and has found many proofs of the animalÕs presence.

The Conservancy has an informative brochure entitled ÒLiving With Cougars In Michigan,Ó which is available free of charge by sending a business-sized, self-addressed stamped envelope to Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, PO Box 393, Bath, MI 48808. Large quantities of the brochure can be obtained free for distribution at organizational meetings, sporting goods outlets, retail establishments and tourist destinations.

EditorÕs Note: The following documents can be found on the cougar section of our website.
a. Jan. 14, 1985 Colorado State University. Veterinary School lab report
b. April 4, 1985 MDNR Rose Lake Pathology lab report
c. July 15, 1998, Lawrence RobinsonÕs email to MDNR supervisors