Roar of Mich. cougar debate grows louder

Roar of Mich. cougar debate grows louder

Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News

January 27, 207

TRAVERSE CITY -- No cougars live in Michigan, say some state and federal wildlife officials.
But a conservation group believes so many of the big cats exist that they cover the state.
Somewhere between those two views lies the truth, which has become as elusive as the skittish animal at the center of the debate, cougar experts said.

The argument has grown increasingly bitter with charges of hoaxes, cover-ups, blurry photos reminiscent of Bigfoot sightings, a state agency accused of violating state law, scientists accused of ignoring their own research, and a dead pet panther named Sasha.

"It's about money, ego, power -- all the forces of evil," said Dennis Fijalkowski, executive director of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, about the controversy.

The disagreement is more than an academic food fight. The two sides agree that public safety is at stake, but, as with everything else dealing with the issue, they disagree how.

The wildlife conservancy, based in Bath, near Lansing, says the government is failing to protect residents and an endangered species.

The state and federal officials say the conservation group is needlessly scaring people.

Cougars -- also called mountain lions -- seldomly attack humans, but a growing number of reported sightings -- 1,200 since 2001 -- has alarmed residents around the state.

Last year, Berrien County on the Indiana border issued a public safety advisory after an attack on a horse, and in June Battle Creek police did the same after officers reportedly spotted several cougars.

Eleanor Comings, 62, a volunteer at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Traverse City, said she was followed by a cougar for 20 minutes along one of the park trails in 2003.

"When I first saw it, it was my worst nightmare," she said. "My second thought was: Everyone wants to see one, and here it is."

Read More of the story at the Detroit Press