Cougar Cubs Spotted Once Again In MI After 9 Months

ONTONAGON COUNTY, MI — Nine months after a pair of cougar cubs were found living in the Michigan wild, a new trail camera shows the cubs are still alive and living with their mother, wildlife officials said.

Photos from the trail camera shows an adult cougar being followed by two cubs down a snowy trail in central Ontonagon County on Dec. 6. Wildlife officials believe the cubs are roughly 1-year-old.

The cubs were first spotted in early March when they were believed to be between 7 and 9 weeks old. The cub sighting was the first in more than 100 years in Michigan.

Wildlife officials were thrilled when they first confirmed the sighting, but then grew concern because their mother was nowhere around. Cougar cubs are highly dependent on their mothers in their early stages, and wildlife officials were worried they may not be able to survive.

"Those young cougars are very vulnerable right now," Michigan DNR Large Carnivore Specialist Brian Roell said in March. "We don’t know where they are or if they’re even alive. Mother Nature can be very cruel."

But the new photos, which were verified last Sunday, suggests one of the first instances of cougar reproduction to take place outside the of their core area in the Western states.

"This is a historic confirmation for Michigan since it is the first time in over 100 years that verified cougar reproduction has occurred east of the Mississippi River and possible even east of the Missouri River," Roell said.

Roell also said he is surprised the cubs weren’t captured on any public or private trail cameras between March and December, considering the DNR has more than 1,300 trail cameras in the Upper Peninsula.

"The interesting thing is, where were they for nine months?" Roell says. "That’s a mystery."

The cubs were first spotted in early March when they were believed to be between 7 and 9 weeks old./Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Wildlife officials said cougar cubs generally stay with their mother for about two years before venturing out on their own.

Although cougars are native to Michigan, most of them now appear to be transient animals, dispersing into Michigan from Western states. They are on the list of endangered mammals in Michigan, meaning it’s illegal to hunt or harass them. It is also illegal to try and locate their den and to trespass on private property.

Since 2008, the DNR has confirmed about 168 cougar sightings, all in the U.P., although most of those sightings are of the same animal being reported by multiple sources.

Cougar sightings have increased each year since 2019, wildlife officials said, adding the number of trail cameras has also increased.

Cougar sightings on DNR-operated cameras accounted for more than 25 percent of the verified cougar sightings in 2024. Visit the DNR’s cougar dashboard and cougar photo page for more information.

"This isn’t an animal that is ever going to become very numerous," Roell said. "They’re going to remain rare on the landscape regardless of whatever happens with them here in Michigan."

Related:

• MI Cougar Sightings Hit Record High In 2025
• Cougar Cubs Spotted In MI For First Time In 100 Years: DNR