VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK, Minn. — Scientists working on a longstanding wolf research project in northern Minnesota have released high-quality footage of a cougar.
The animal was caught on a wildlife surveillance camera in the Voyageurs National Park area, which is south of Rainy Lake.
The video, posted on the Facebook page of the Voyageurs Wolf Project, was taken on Oct. 20.
"Fortunately, the footage is super clear so no disputing what kind of kitty this is," the post states.
Although this is the first time the Voyageurs Wolf Project has recorded video of a cougar, since 2004 the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has verified 59 cougar observations in the state.
In recent years, there have been several sightings in Northwestern Ontario, including a confirmed sighting in Pukaskwa National Park.
A cougar was also caught on camera near Thunder Bay in the Highway 61/Highway 130 area last year.
Experts on both sides of the international border have speculated that most cougars spotted in this part of the continent are transient young males from established populations in the Dakotas.
In 2017, the genetic profile of a dead cougar discovered in the Boreal Road area west of Kakabeka Falls in 2017 was linked "most closely" to a breeding population in the Black Hills area.
