Cougar Cam: Ministry of Natural Resources hides dozens of cameras in Ontario to catch a snapshot of an animal that officially doesn’t exist
Posted by Dan Ray
on Thursday, June 18, 2009
There have been a rash of cougar attacks in western Canada in the past week. On Tuesday a mother in Squamish, B.C. actually rescued her 3-year-old daughter, who was tackled by a cougar, by hurling her body against the animal and sprinting away with the girl in-hand.
But in Ontario all is quiet. In fact, all has been quiet on the cougar-front for nearly a century in all of eastern North America. Some of the last definitive proof of cougars — also known as mountain lions or panthers — in the East has included the shooting of Vermont’s last cougar in 1881, a mysterious Pennsylvania cougar in 1967 and a New Brunswick cougar in 1932. But these events have been extraordinarily rare in the last 100 years and, other than eyewitness accounts, there has been no hard evidence of surviving eastern cougars since.
But this has not stopped a steady stream of reported cougar sightings all over the East, including Ontario. More than 500 people across the province have reported spotting Ontarian cougars just since 2002. And despite the fact that perhaps as few as seven percent of cougar sightings are accurate — due to the notoriously inaccurate quality of eyewitness data — the Ministry of Natural Resources decided to start taking them seriously when it launched its plan to deploy surveillance-like cameras in the wilderness about six months ago.
The MNR has positioned 40 cameras equipped with motion-sensors and infrared, heat-seeking abilities throughout forested portions of Ontario in an effort to add credence to the belief — held by many — that the eastern cougar is back.
So far, no luck.
But if and when a cougar is conclusively found, then it will be possible to determine whether the eastern cougar has survived or if the western cougar — the variety currently clawing children in B.C. — has simply expanded its territory.
Comments (6)
www.ontariopuma.ca is the web site dedicated to the study of cougars in Ontario. The Ontario Puma Foundation is a volunteer charitable organization working in cooperation with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Environment Canada (EC), Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The OPF will also have a working relationship with Universities, Colleges, Consultants, Provincial Police, Naturalist Clubs and other Non-Government Organizations (NGOs).
Submitted by Dennis on Sunday, June 28, 2009
My buddy has got a big game camera in the peterborough area and he's got a snapshot of one following a deer
Submitted by Avid hunter on Monday, July 19, 2010
They could have put a camera in my back yard where cougar tracks were seen two winters in a row, 2010 and 2011 in Loretto area going right behind the house. Each set of four minimum 4 feet apart,leaping over a pile of snow with lots of space on either side and no belly dragging, prints matching internet posting of cougar tracks. We were told by ministry either a dog or a house cat. Reported sightings in the area by others and hearing one. HMMM
Submitted by Sandra on Friday, June 03, 2011
I have a picture of one on my trail camera about 45 minutes north of Kingston.
Submitted by Jared on Thursday, February 09, 2012
I live near in southwestern ont near Lake Huron and was fortunate enough to see one of these cats up close! It was amazing and the cat... he looked at me jump the ditch and disappeared into the bush!
Submitted by Connie on Sunday, August 26, 2012
I live just west of Bradford Ont. Near thr 400 highway and I have seen a cougar
Submitted by mark on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
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