For many years, cougars were thought to be extinct in Wisconsin. In Recent years however, many Wisconsin residents have reported seeing these big cats, which have are also known as mountain lions or pumas. State game managers have to determine whether these sightings are real.

Evidence to confirm a sighting can include photographs, cougar tracks, blood, hair, droppings or urine. Investigators have so far verified only two cougar sightings in Wisconsin.

In the first confirmed sighting, a cougar left behind tracks in the snow near the town of Milton in Rock County. Believed to have roamed in the farmland around Milton for about three months, this big cat eventually showed up in Chicago and was shot by police.

In a second confirmed sighting, bear hunters spotted a young male mountain lion in the thick forests of Barron County in northeast Wisconsin. Department of natural Resources biologists attempted to tranquilize and attach a tracking collar to this cougar, but the cat escaped.

Other cougar sightings have been reported in our streets, but not authenticated. Many of these unconfirmed cougar sightings may actually be true, just not yet confirmed by hard evidence.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t reason for experts to think cougars have returned to Wisconsin. In some areas of the state, mountain lions are suspected of attacking young horses. For example, Gary and Sandy Kenner believe that a cougar attacked their young colt.

“We came out, and he had a big bite out of his chest and terrible scratches on its legs,” says Gary Kenner.

A similar case happened in Watertown, when Jim and Amanda Saxby’s yearling quarter horse died.

Investigators have suggested that the horses were injured by fencing, not mountain lions. Ken Jonas, wildlife biologist supervisor, suggests that people going outdoors should be wary of potential dangers, such as black bears, cougars, and wolves.

Researchers believe that the cougars are coming to Wisconsin and neighboring states from the Black Hills of South Dakota. They estimate that 20 to 25 males migrate to the Midwest every year in search of females and food. Eric Anderson, a wildlife ecology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, expects that Wisconsin will have resident cougars in the future.

[Sources: www.madison.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]