ST. PAUL, MN (KDAL) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced that video captured by the University of Minnesota’s Voyageurs Wolf Project has provided evidence that cougars are living and reproducing in Minnesota.
Cougars were once native to Minnesota but there has not been any evidence of their reproduction in the state for over a hundred years.
The Voyageurs Wolf Project deployed hundreds of trail camera around northeast Minnesota to help in their wolf research. There have been pictures of lone cougars in the area eight times since 2023 but this is the first time cougar kittens have been recorded.
It is estimated the young cougars are 7 to 9 months old and were born last fall. The Minnesota DNR says this is an important starting point for a possible establishment of a cougar population in the state.
However, the DNR’s research biologist John Erb says predicting the future is extremely difficult and these kittens may not survive or they could be the foundation for a steady increase in cougar numbers.
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