ONTONAGON COUNTY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Trail camera photos from Dec. 6 in central Ontonagon County confirm two young cougar kittens are alive and still moving around with their mother, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Officials said the sighting marks the first confirmed instance of cougar reproduction east of the Mississippi River in more than a century. Michigan is home to very few cougars and genetic testing has confirmed the existence of only adult males.  Brian Roell, the DNR’s large carnivore specialist, said trail camera footage suggests one of the first instances of cougar reproduction to take place outside the cougars’ core area in the Western states.

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“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 pointed out that cougar kittens generally stay with their mother for about two years before venturing out on their own.

“The kittens’ chances of survival are actually pretty high because just like bears, cougars invest a lot of their energy into their young,” Roell said. “So these kittens will stay with their mom through this winter and possibly even into next winter. They already have a leg up, seeing as how they’ve been with her for a year now.”