DNA Analysis Confirms Four Cougars in State Within Last Two Years
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SEPTEMBER 2010 VOLUME 37 NUMBER 9 DNA Analysis Confirms Four Cougars in State within last Two Years Cougars’ elusive nature makes tracking a challenge for state wildlife officials few drops of blood, preserved by an alert war- sible.Efforts to trap or to locate and kill the animal caus- den, proves that while one male cougar was ing these injuries will continue. A In the meantime,the DNR has formed a cougar work- tracking through St. Croix and Dunn counties this past December,another male cougar was moving ing group that includes a Wildlife Services supervisor near the Flambeau River, 125 miles to the north. and a Conservation Congress delegate from Juneau This cougar,crossing a road, was spotted by a female County.The group is collecting information from cougar bus driver east of Park Falls.Warden Dan Michels re- experts elsewhere and is preparing a detailed protocol sponded and followed the animal’s tracks into a cedar for how the DNR will respond to cougar sightings in the swamp where he spotted tiny blood drops behind the future. cougar’s tracks.He collected them in a test tube,froze DNR biologists have been sent to the Black Hills the contents and submitted them for DNA analysis. for hands-on training with cougars,taking part in op- No other sightings of a cougar in that vicinity were erations to immobilize cougars and fit them with radio reported, and no more evidence was found. Still, the sci- collars.The top cougar biologist from the Black Hills, ence is irrefutable.The bus driver had seen a wild North John Kanta, came to Wisconsin two weeks ago to assist American cougar, a male. Wisconsin’s cougar working group.He calls these elusive The discovery points to just one of the challenges cats mountain lions. faced by Department of Natural Resources wildlife of- “We’ve never had anyone fatally attacked by a moun- ficials during the past two and a half years as they deal tain lion,”Kanta said. “Your chance of even seeing a with the first confirmed cougars in Wisconsin since the mountain lion, in mountain lion country,is a million to last cougar native to the state was killed in or around one.” 1908. The Wisconsin group will not be working on a cou- A series of incidents in Juneau County during the gar management plan. The cougars detected so far have past several months has proven especially problematic. been young males seeking new territory.They probably originated in the Black Hills In May, a hunter reported seeing a cougar attacking a of South Dakota. No females have been detected in Wisconsin and there is no evi- heifer.The cow had to be put down due to injuries.Lat- dence of a breeding population. er,after several sheep were attacked by an animal and Female cougars tend to migrate no more than a couple hundred miles.Breeding killed, and instances of injured horses were reported populations east of the Black Hills would have to be established, scientists believe, on two different farms,it was widely assumed to be the before female cougars could be expected to arrive in Wisconsin, a process that could work of the same animal, believed to be a cougar. take 10 or more years, if it happens at all. Later,the hunter was interviewed by a DNR biologist In the meantime,the DNR will continue to take all reports of cougar attacks on and his descriptions,by his own admission, fall short of livestock seriously and to work with Wildlife Services to investigate any reports. a positive identification. The predator he saw was cov- DNR officials emphasized that citizen observations are critical to this effort and ered with mud and appeared to be less than half the size they are asking landowners and outdoor enthusiasts to become familiar with the and length of a young adult cougar. “rare mammal observation form: on the DNR’s website.This and much more can be In Wisconsin, Wildlife Services (WS) – part of the U.S. found by typing “cougar” into the search box on the home page. Department of Agriculture – responds to reports of live- Although the DNR has been collecting reports of possible cougar observations stock depredations under a contract with the DNR. WS since 1991, biologists were never able to confirm the presence of a cougar,or to find agents are skilled at responding to predation by other a single decent cougar track in the state,until January 2008 when a cougar obser- predators,such as bear and wolf,and at trapping preda- vation near Milton was confirmed by prints and DNA tests of a blood sample.That tors when necessary.However,despite an ongoing effort cougar was killed by Chicago police in April 2008. by WS and DNR to capture any predator responsible for In March 2009, a cougar was treed by hunters just west of Spooner.Attempts to these animal attacks in Juneau County,none has been capture the cougar were unsuccessful and it disappeared, its fate a mystery.In late located. None have been captured on night cameras at May 2009, a Pepin County farmer discovered tracks near his livestock pen and Wyde- bait sites or by tracking dogs.At this time,no prints that ven confirmed they belonged to a large cat. can be definitely attributed to a cougar have been found, Then in December,acougar that likely crossed the frozen St. Croix River from no blood, no hair,no scat and no urine.Hunting dogs Minnesota moved through St. Croix, Dunn (and probably Eau Claire and Clark coun- have failed to pick up a trail. ties) where tracks show it turning north. Tests reveal this same cougar,now dubbed Faced with this mystery,DNR officials collected all the “Twin Cities cougar,” was tracked near Cable in Bayfield County in February. the reports,photographs and other evidence from the Since this cat appeared in December,there have been more than 10 confirmed cou- Juneau County investigations and submitted them to a gar or cougar sign observations in western Wisconsin and one near Lena in northeast panel of four internationally recognized cougar experts Wisconsin. A half dozen of these are believed to be the Twin Cities cougar. through a scientific organization called the Cougar Net- Using DNA tests processed by the federal Rocky Mountain Research Station in work. Missoula, Montana, DNR biologists have been able to confirm the presence of four in- None of these experts could confirm the presence of dividual cougars in Wisconsin, all males,counting the one killed in Chicago.Whether a cougar,based on evidence collected so far.The experts these four account for all the observations is not known. acknowledged that their opinions were based on reports, One thing is clear – cougars have proven to be very adept at covering large dis- and not on field investigations. tances in Wisconsin without being noticed. DNR biologists say these cougars tend DNR officials,acting on reports from Juneau County to move 5 to 7 miles a day. A DNR biologist tracking the cougar in Dunn County residents,including unconfirmed sightings,are proceed- reported it stopped in one area for at least two days after killing and caching a fawn ing on the belief that the presence of a cougar is pos- buck, returning at least once to continue its meal. Owners of Large Piers Have Until April 1, 2011 to Register Piers he clock is winding down for owners of large piers to register individual permit and review or downsize their pier to meet the size those structures to secure their future under a free,one-time qualifications for grandfathering it in. Tregistration process. “Getting your pier grandfathered in will give you peace of mind and A 2008 law set size standards for piers,and created the registration protection from complaints about your pier in the future,” he says. process that grandfathered-in most existing piers larger than the size DNR responds to complaints from neighboring property owners standards. or boaters or anglers that piers are too big and are interfering with Owners of piers larger than the standards have until April 1, 2011, navigation or are harming fish habitat. Having the pier registered will to determine if they qualify to be grandfathered in, and to complete the make it easier to resolve such situations. registration process. “Registration doesn’t give you a golden ticket, but it does mean that “The vast majority of pier owners won’t need to register their pier things are more certain than they would be if someone was not regis- but if they do,that process is free and we’ve tried to make it as straight- tered and they found themselves the target of a complaint about their forward as possible,” says Martye Griffin, DNR waterway policy leader pier,” he says. coordinating the pier registration process. A DNR study showed that the majority existing piers already meet A factsheet, video, and interactive decision tool enable pier owners these requirements, so most waterfront owners have piers that can be to quickly learn if their pier meets the size standards and is exempt grandfathered. To be eligible to be grandfathered, the pier must have from permitting or the registration process.If the pier is larger than been placed before 2004 and meet specific size standards.Standards the size standards,the owners can immediately complete the free,one- were created because piers that are too big can shade out aquatic time registration process.Avery few piers are expected to be too large plants that are important to fish and can interfere with boaters,swim- to qualify to be grandfathered in, and the owners will need to seek an mers, and others enjoying Wisconsin lakes and rivers.