Two cougars spotted in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Biologists with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources recently confirmed two cougar sightings after traveling to Northern Wisconsin to verify the authenticity of the mountain lion photos captured by trailside cameras.

State officials were contacted by citizens claiming to have captured imagery of passing cougars. After taking separate trips to Lincoln and Marinette counties, wildlife officials confirmed the photos -- one taken in late July and one in early September -- were real and were taken in Wisconsin.

"As you can see, there really isn't any doubt in this photo that it is in fact a cougar," Shelby Hiestand, the DNR wildlife biologist who investigated the Lincoln county sighting, said in a press release.

Hiestand says there's a chance the photos show the same cougar. The two photos were taken roughly 90 miles apart, a distance mountain lions could easily traverse over the course of a month.

Cougars aren't thought to be breeding in Wisconsin, but a number of the stealthy cats have been spotted in recent years -- likely dispersing from sustainable populations in the Western United States. The predators first showed up in 2008, a century after they were extirpated from the state.

Mountain lions are federally protected in Wisconsin and can only be shot if they are attacking a person, pet or domestic animal.