(WWJ) -- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is reportedly investigating a potential cougar sighting in the Upper Peninsula.
On Sunday night a Twitter user with the handle @J33T1 posted a photo of a cougar with caption "Big Kitty," claiming it was taken in the U.P.
The photo appears to be a screenshot from a trail camera, timestamped at 6:12 p.m. on Sept. 16.
In the tweet’s replies, the user said the image was captured off Foster City Road, north of Waucedah Township in the far western part of the U.P.
The DNR is apparently looking into whether the photo of the cougar is genuine, according to a report from the Detroit News. A DNR spokesperson said the department’s biologists are examining the photo. The DNR is trying to learn more about who captured the image and where it was taken, though as of Monday afternoon, they did not have a source to contact.
The DNR’s website says 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.
There have been nine confirmed cougar sightings this year. There were 15 in 2020, five of which happened in October or later.
The department has received numerous reports of cougar sightings in recent years from various locations throughout the state. Many have been confirmed since 2008, including two illegal harvests in the U.P. Other states in the Midwest have had several reports in recent years, as young males disperse from core range in the western U.S.
Anyone who wishes to report a cougar sighting to the Michigan DNR can do so on their website.
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