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Cougars

Cougars were originally native to Michigan, but they were wiped out from Michigan around the early 1900s. The last known wild cougar legally taken in the state occurred in 1906 near Newberry. In recent years, numerous cougar sighting reports have been received from various locations in Michigan. There have been many confirmed cougar sightings since 2008, including two illegal harvests in the Upper Peninsula. This situation is not unique to Michigan, but has been occurring in many other mid-western and eastern states, as young males disperse from core range in the western United States.