Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

The DNR said they’ve found cougar cubs for the first time in more than 100 years living in Michigan.

Biologists confirmed Wednesday that two cougar cubs, believed to be 7 to 9 weeks old, are living on private land in Ontonagon County in the western Upper Peninsula. A local resident submitted photographic evidence of the spotted cubs on March 6.

Brian Roell, a large carnivore specialist for the MDNR, said this is the first time cougar cubs have been verified since the species was hunted to extinction in Michigan in the early 1900s. He led the team that verified the cubs.

“It’s pretty exciting, considering this could be the first known cougar reproduction in modern times in the western Great Lake states,” Roell said. “It really shows that we have a unique place in Michigan where someone has the chance to see a wolf, a moose and a cougar in the wild. It’s something that should be celebrated, that we have the habitat to support an elusive animal like this.”

The cubs were spotted and photographed without their mother. Cubs often stay with their mothers for the first two years of life.

Officials said although cougars are native to Michigan, most now appear to be transient and come into Michigan from states to the west. The DNR has confirmed 132 reports of adult cougars, but DNA testing has only confirmed males to date.

“The cubs haven’t been seen since March 6.

“Those young cougars are very vulnerable right now,” Roell said. “We don’t know where they are or if they’re even alive. Mother Nature can be very cruel.”

Sightings can be logged in the DNR’s Eyes in the Field reporting system, linked below. Cougars are on the endangered mammals list in Michigan, which means it’s illegal to hunt or harass them. That includes trying to find their den. It’s also illegal to trespass on private property, Roell said.

The latest information about cougar sightings in Michigan can be found at michigan.gov/cougar.

(photo credit: DNR)