Retired DNR forester, Mike Zuidema, of Escanaba, believes a few native Upper Great Lakes cougars persisted in areas like the Huron Mountains of northern Marquette County since the alleged last Michigan cougar was killed in 1906 and are the ancestors of our current cougar population.  Zuidema’s ideas are consistent with the findings of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy which has been conducting research on the endangered cat for 13 years.  But they are at odds with the official policy of the DNR.  The agency contends that even the findings of cougar evidence by its own biologists at eight sites (including the Huron Mountains) during the last three years may represent just one wandering male from South Dakota.

Zuidema recently summarized 24 out of 187 reports of cougars he compiled since 1981 for a single 224 square mile area near Bark River (Delta County).  His article, “A cougar home range in the U.P., appeared in the January 2011 issue of Woods-n-Water News.  A considerable number of the sightings and findings of evidence were by other DNR personnel.  Collectively, they point to the continued presence of cougars in the Bark River area over nearly half a century.  The DNR officially verified a cougar track in 2008 in the same Bark River area.

Conservationists interested in Mike Zuidema’s article can contact Woods-n-Water News by email at wnw@pageone-inc.com.  Some of Zuidema’s same reports are available on the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy website at www.miwildlife.org.

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