Trail cameras in northern Minnesota captured rare footage of cougar kittens, marking the first confirmed evidence of the species reproducing in the state in over a century.

The discovery was made using motion-activated cameras deployed near Voyageurs National Park in late March. The University of Minnesota’s Voyageurs Wolf Project relies on hundreds of cameras across northeastern Minnesota to monitor wildlife.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said this is the first evidence of a reproducing cougar population in more than a century.

In Minnesota, mountain lions have been spotted nearly 200 times over the last few decades, often with the help of trail cameras, but these were older solitary cats. The Voyageurs Wolf Project specifically recorded lone cougars eight times since 2023, but never kittens.

The footage was captured on two cameras near a GPS-collared deer carcass, which allowed researchers to monitor the site remotely. The cameras recorded four cougars, a female cougar with three large kittens, over four hours at the site of the kill.

“In late March, we received a mortality signal from a GPS-collared deer and found the carcass buried under a pile of leaves on a hillside — a telltale sign of feline predation,” researchers wrote alongside the published video.

“We suspected it was likely a bobcat but thought, just possibly, it could be a cougar. So we put up two trail cameras on the cached deer carcass and four hours later, two cougar kittens returned to the kill. The entire family showed up that evening and spent hours in front of our cameras.”

Based on their size and behaviour, the kittens are estimated to be 7-9 months old, said John Erb, a research biologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The only other confirmed kittens in Minnesota turned out to be captive escapees, according to Erb.

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Researchers described the experience as “surreal” as they never anticipated seeing four cougars together in northern Minnesota.

“In total, we captured around four hours of footage of this cougar family at the kill, and it was fascinating to see and hear their interactions — the mother grooming her kittens, the kittens growling and hissing at each other. We feel incredibly fortunate we were able to capture such a wild moment in such detail,” they wrote.

Cougars were once native in Minnesota, but became locally extinct, with no confirmed signs of reproduction until now. Erb added that despite the positive finding, it’s very hard to predict the future.

“These kittens might not survive, potentially getting killed by wolves, a male cougar or vehicles. They may also become part of the founding catalyst for a slow but steady increase in numbers. Time will tell, but we are clearly nearing a point where the probability of a self-sustaining population has increased.”