Wild mountain lion cubs found in Michigan for first time in century

Rhiannon Saegert, The Charlotte Observer on Mar 18, 2025

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Two mountain lion cubs have been photographed in Michigan, a state where the big cats were hunted to near extinction and their young haven’t been seen in the wild in over 100 years.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced in a news release March 13 that two cubs between 7 and 9 weeks old were spotted in the state’s rural upper peninsula March 6. Along with wolves, humans wiped out the mountain lion population in the early 19th century. The last known instance of a wild cougar being legally hunted was recorded in 1906 near Newberry, according to the DNR.

Photos showed the spotted cats, only a little larger than a domestic cat, walking along a roadside, peering cautiously at the camera from behind the wheel of a vehicle with claws unsheathed and hunkering down in the snow with their ears down, a warning sign.

Brian Roell, wildlife biologist and Michigan’s large carnivore specialist, said cubs haven’t been spotted in Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota in a century.

“It’s pretty exciting, considering this could be the first known cougar reproduction in modern times in the western Great Lakes states,” he said in the news release.

There have been 133 sightings of the animal since 2008, all in Michigan’s upper peninsula and never in groups of more than two at a time, according to DNR records. The department said those cats come from other states, like the Dakotas, as adults. In some cases, captive cougars escape and make the list.

Roell said evidence of a breeding pair in the wild is a good sign for the species, which is protected under state law.

“It’s something that should be celebrated, that we have the habitat to support an elusive animal like this,” Roell said.

Their mother was not seen alongside them, and the cubs haven’t been seen since. Wildlife officials said that could be cause for concern, because cubs are very dependent on their mothers.

“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.”

The absence of mountain lions in Michigan might make some feel safer, but it’s played havoc with the local ecosystem. Bridge Michigan reported in 2023 that the state’s deer population has grown unsustainably large, running wild from a lack of natural predators, fewer human hunters and warming winters due to climate change.

“But humans long ago eradicated wolves and cougars from most of the state,” Bridge Michigan reported. “Other predators, such as bears and bobcats, are also relatively rare in southern Michigan.”

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