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Posted on 05/22/2008 4:53:24 AM PDT by decimon
Remember the lone, wandering cougar that was shot and killed by Chicago police?
Some wildlife experts say it may not have been alone and may not have wandered so far. Are government officials in the Midwest covering up a dangerous and growing cougar population?
In some places, they're called mountain lions. Around here, they're known as cougars.
There are questions about whether government officials here in the Midwest are waging "the great cougar cover-up" by ignoring evidence and disavowing the wild cats' existence.
We know how one cougar's journey ended in the back yard of a Roscoe Village home. But Illinois authorities still don't know is where its journey began.
Although genetic analysis isn't complete, initial tests suggest the cougar made a 950 mile trip to Chicago from South Dakota. Wildlife experts interviewed by the I-Team say it's more likely the cougar came from much closer.
"I stopped. It frightened me," said witness Wendy Chamberlain.
Chamberlain investigates livestock attacks as township supervisor in Parma, Michigan. After documenting numerous accounts of cougars killing farm animals, Chamberlain herself saw one a few months ago near her home.
"It walked and went into the grass in this area right here," she said.
"We think the population is probably around 100 adults," said Dennis Fijalkowski, Michigan Wildlife Conservancy.
Fijalkowski's wildlife organization says there is a native population of cougars born; bred and residing in Michigan.
"I think we have 1,500 sightings in the last five years. But we estimate that is just a fraction of the total. A lot of people won't come forward because they've been made fools of for so long by the state," said Fijalkowski.
The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has catalogued evidence; done their own DNA testing and obtained a video of cougars in far southeastern Michigan.
When the woman who shot the video showed it to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, officials told her they were common house cats.
A local video production company with experience in law enforcement cases tested the state's theory by putting a common house cat in the same spot the woman photographed the suspected cougar, and they compared its size to a 6-foot tall man in the middle and the suspected cougar on the left. Conclusion: it was no house cat.
Some cougar experts say it's more likely Chicago's cougar came from the upper peninsula of Michigan than South Dakota, but DNR officials in both states say they have no cougar populations.
"Could be ten, 20 or hundreds of cougar sightings in a year. But many turn out to be dogs, coyotes," said Dan Ludwig, Illinois DNR biologist.
The Illinois DNR has verified only three cougars here since the late 1800s, and those have been within the past several years. In the last six weeks, Illinois DNR biologists have investigated a dozen reports of cougars in metro Chicago and verified none.
"All the evidence we looked at came out negative," said Ludwig.
In Michigan, retired DNR forester Mike Zuidema says he was ridiculed when he reported seeing a cougar. Zudiema has now documented 1,100 cougar sightings in upper Michigan since the 1950s and believes authorities are trying to hide a growing cougar population.
"It was a cover-up initially related to budgets," he said.
He says state officials didn't want to pay the costs of managing a new endangered species and that recently a high-ranking Michigan DNR official told him there is a disinformation campaign underway.
"We have been told that when we talk to the press and news channels, not to say it was a mountain lion. You can say the tracks were consistent with mountain lions. Or it probably was a mountain lion. But don't actually say it was a mountain lion, even if you think so," said Zuidema.
That noncommittal approach was taken when the I-Team asked a Michigan DNR official whether there are cougars in his state.
"The department is looking at it. We feel that there is a possibility that there could be individuals scattered," said Adam Bump, Michigan DNR.
And even though some wildlife experts say Illinois could now have a breeding cougar population, DNR officials here also deny it.
"We do not feel there is a viable cougar population in Illinois. But what we do have possibly is transient animals, or what biologists say are dispersing animals, animals coming from their home area where they were born looking for another area," said Ludwig.
The cougar issue was magnified last month when Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley received threatening letters complaining about the animal shot and killed by police. The FBI is now investigating whether those threats are connected to an arson next to Daley's vacation home in Michigan.
midwest outdoors and MI pings.
“Dangerous” is a relative term. Here in rural central Missouri, I have seen cougar. I have seen what are left of deer that is consistent with being killed by cougar. But cougar are only dangerous to people who cannot defend themselves in the rare event they should be attacked.
When I walk the dog at night along a private road in the woods, I carry a side arm. One of the reasons that cougars are “dangerous” is where laws prevent people from being properly armed. It seems there are too many politicians whose policy of achieving victory over danger of any kind is to be defenseless.
Wow. The conspiracy theory nuts are now claiming there’s a mountain lion population conspiracy? Wake me when sanity returns.
SWEEEEEEET!!!!!!
You really need to think about that.
Good Point. How about “alert” instead of “wake”. That way I won’t sleep until the country disintegrates beneath me.
Did GFP fine him?
S. S. S.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
Since cougars don’t exist, we can go ahead and shoot them.
If you’d like to be on or off this Upper Midwest/outdoors/rural list please FR mail me. And ping me is you see articles of interest.
Pasted below is a brief article I published in July 2007. Apparently there are so many lion sightings the USFWS is starting to take notice.
I published this after receiving a news alert from the USFWS.
USFWS Studying Mountain Lion Sightings
Volunteer outdoor enthusiasts have for years reported seeing what appears to be mountain lions while afield, but most of these are determined to be other creatures or perhaps captive animals that have been released into the wild.
Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a review of scientific and commercial information underway to determine the status of the endangered eastern cougar, the first review by the agency since publishing a recovery plan in 1982. The Service placed the eastern cougar on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in 1973.
Although the period for public comment on the agency review has passed, the UFWS is accepting comments on these sightings indefinitely.
“We will compile and evaluate scientific evidence to help us understand the status of the eastern cougar and to determine what future actions the Service should take,” said Martin Miller, chief of endangered species for the Service’s Northeast Region.
As part of the review, the Service is seeking information on the status of the eastern cougar in the 21 states — from Maine to South Carolina and westward from Michigan to Tennessee — where the Endangered Species Act protects it.
Lacking definitive evidence of the species’ existence, the Service has presumed the eastern cougar to be extinct. It is improbable that a small cougar population persisted in the eastern states for over a century.
Most of the confirmed cougar records since 1950 (animals killed, good quality photos/videos, genetic evidence) are known to be escapes of captive origin. There may be thousands of captive cougars in the eastern United States.
“An important part of the Service’s review will be to compile the best available scientific evidence and objectively assess whether the eastern cougar is truly extinct,” said Mark McCollough, endangered species biologist in the Service’s Northeast Region. McCollough and other Service staff will prepare the status review.
Anyone wishing to submit information regarding the eastern cougar may do so by writing to:
Eastern Cougar
Northeast Regional Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
300 Westgate Center Drive
Hadley, MA 01035
EasternCougar@fws.gov
For additional information on the eastern cougar, see http://www.fws.gov/northeast/ECougar Information on the Service’s endangered species program may be found at http://www.fws.gov/endangered
The worst we have hear are the black bear up in the hills, to say nothing of coyotes. Usually when someone around here claims to have seen a cougar, it is actually a bobcat.
>There may be thousands of captive cougars in the eastern United States.<
Without a doubt somebody is smoking the funny weed or drinking cheap booze.
One was spotted Mi. far Northeast Lower Penn.
Photos of prints confirmed.
I saw one at the in-laws farm last year while I was out mowing a field. Walked right along a crop line, looked at me, then went into the corn.
I’m in Iowa...
I agree. Obviously something’s up with the increased sightings and the USFWS recent interest in documenting these.
I also have published stories here in Tennessee about the alligator populations in the western portion of the state, although alligators are not native here. I actually watched several small gators once in Reelfoot Lake.
Also, recently published a brief article about two bears (one collared) seen in west Tennessee, which were suspected to be from some stocked in Arkansas. We do have bears in east Tennessee, but haven’t had a population in the west in a century.
Coyotes are not native here, but we have a large number of them, in fact now have a year round, no limit, hunting season. Oh, and we also have non native armidillos in west Tennessee.
Found this site you might find interesting:
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/tn-lion/
Also I finally looked up an article I published in 2007, (post #33) so thought you might want to check out the USFWS site on cougars.
Mr G wrote to the TWRS about the one we heard here, and also cited the fact that our neighbor saw one about a year ago at this time.
They did not even bother to respond.
I have lived on this property for 21 years now. I have heard coyotes, bobcats, and rattlesnakes. Even a bucksnort will startle you when it is 10 feet away! But I have never been afraid like I was when I heard that cat sound.
Bet if I notify them that I have shot one they will respond.
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