NF Black Cougar??

[Deano]

6 0'clock MCTV news just had another story, a big black cat was spotted in North Bay. Seems to be more and more sightings. Big black cat, bigger than a dog with a curved tale.

[Carpe Diem]

There was something on a news broadcast in London (On.) a couple weeks back. A guy had submitted a camera phone video he shot of a supposed brown cougar, in his neighbor's driveway, across the street in town.

 

The news story only caught my attention because much to my surprise (and disbelief), i had seen what looked like a cougar, lying on the side of the road, on the 403, on my way from Hamilton to London. Thought at the time when i spotted it, nah, it couldn't be. There aren't any cougars in Ontario. Honest. Not telling a fish story.!!!!

[ehg]

Always was skeptical about these eastern cougar/mountain lion sightings but not now.

If Alberta has 8,000 cougars confirmed it seems possible there are a few hundred in Ontario.

 

There is lots of space outside of Toronto.

 

 

ehg

[ch312]

the so called "experts" say the black ones are escaped pets eh. i guess they arent intelligent enough to figure out that theres something called melanism which causes fur/feathers to go all black instead of the normal color. although its rare, i dont see why people should automatically assume that the black cougars are pets that were released....

[ch312]

As Nemo posted:

 

www.ontariopuma.ca

 

I don't know if Eastern Cougars can have the odd black offspring or not...wolves do, so why not.

 

Is it me or is there a lot of people who refuse to believe that Cougars could be on the comeback? Everytime I google the subject, it seems the MNR say they believe they are extinct or have inconclusive evidence...

 

Escaped pet? Yeah, like every city or town near a reported sighting could have that many escaped (and illegal) pets...

 

the MNR alway denies a population of cougars in ontario. i have no clue why they do this but it really doesnt make sense. there have been too many sightings to deny the fact that there is a population. nobody has any clue how many there are because these critters are so elusive and its likely extremely difficult to get an estimate of how many there are in ontario.

[singingdog]

There are no documented cases of a black cougar in North America....yes, colour variations occur in many animals, but not all colour variations occur in all animals. More than likely, the black ones being sited are escaped leopards or jaguars (both different species than a cougar). The wide range of the sightings could be the same animal: Jaguars in the wild can easily cover 80 miles/day when they are roaming.

[Northhunter]

There was a similar sighting in the Gogama area (Westree) a couple weeks ago by my buddies dad. From a distance he first thought it was a bear, then saw the tail and other features. Camera was stashed away because of rain.

[Northhunter]

the MNR alway denies a population of cougars in ontario. i have no clue why they do this but it really doesnt make sense. there have been too many sightings to deny the fact that there is a population. nobody has any clue how many there are because these critters are so elusive and its likely extremely difficult to get an estimate of how many there are in ontario.

 

One theory is that if they acknowledge these things exists, then they would be forced to allocate money/resources to protect the population. Given the current state of the MNR and the issues it would effect (logging, hunting, etc.) it would be a big can of worms.

[niagara jeep]

Living in the Falls I have heard of something like a couger roaming the Fort Erie area. Talked to guys who have even spooted what they though was a lynx in the Glen area.