Translated from French; English version reviewed by the author

It is elusive and mysterious, but it is quite real. The cougar is back in Quebec. And the evidence is irrefutable. The cougar was identified a little like one grips a criminal: on the basis of genetic analysis of his hair.

"There are two confirmations", said Helene Jolicoeur, biologist with the Ministry for Natural Resources, Fauna and Parks of Quebec.

That makes three, with a cougar confirmed in the Gaspé region in 2002, and even four, with the specimen confirmed this week in Estrie by the organization Appalachian Corridor. (Note: the Estrie DNA was later determined to be from a South or Central American subspecies and was thus a released captive)

The history of the tracking of the cougar has all the makings of a detective novel. It is full of traps, with lures, indices, false tracks and strokes of luck. And even if the witnesses for the prosecution are in good faith, they are not always credible.

"Since 1990, we distributed a standardized questionnaire to check the observations brought back by people, said Mrs. Jolicoeur. Sometimes, they send us photographs or more recently videos, but it is always a little fuzzy."

As in any investigation, one needed a sleuthhound with a good nose: Jean Tanguay, biologist with the Quebec wildlife service in Saguenay. "We realized that the observations were credible and that people did not know each other, he says. The sightings were often in the same areas.”

The tracking thus intensified in 2002. There had been some sightings in the Valin mountains to the north of the fjord of Saguenay. The biologists positioned four baited lures there covered with a matter similar to velcro and surrounded by barbed wire. The goal: to attract a cougar so that it leaves some hair there.

The lures, containing urine of cougar, cost $4000 for the season. And they worked. Hair was found. But it was necessary to wait until December 2004 to identify them formally. For that, the researchers in biology of the University of Montreal gave a hand, after less convincing attempts at Bishop University. (Note: the Valin DNA was also determined later to b from a South American or Central American subspecies and was thus a released captive)

"We receive envelopes with samples of a little of everything, said François-Joseph Lapointe, Professor of Biology at the University of Montreal. We extract a precise section from the DNA that enables us to distinguish it from other species, like bear or deer. Then, we make a second test to distinguish between lynx, cougar and domestic cats. Then, in a third stage, we make a sequencing of DNA to know some more about the individuals.”

The other part of the investigation starts at kilometer 88 of provincial road 175, which connects Quebec City to the area of Saguenay-Lake-Saint-Jean. On September 27, 2002, one Friday at sunset, a car traveling north enters the faunal reserve of Laurentides. On the road, in a curve, a "large cat” emerges. Seeing the car approaching, the animal squats to try to protect itself. The bumper hits its head and the animal rolls under the car. The driver stops to check the damage. He collects a plastic end that was detached from the car and puts it in the trunk. Seeing the large and motionless animal on the asphalt, the driver continues along the road towards Saguenay. Repairs will cost $2000.

By the greatest of chances, a woman who was in the car was the wife of an employee of the wildlife service at Saguenay. But it took 12 days for the rumor of the incident to reach the ears of our sleuthhound. "I telephoned the garage at once”, tells Mr. Tanguay. But all the parts had already been sent to the scrapyard. I called the owner of the car. He remembered that part of the little skirt had separated and that he had put it in his trunk. It is on that part that a cluster of hair and flesh was found. We were very lucky.

Mr. Tanguay also went to kilometer 88 of the 175: no trace of the accident.

The new sample is also sent to Bishop's, then to the University of Montreal. In December 2004, the result comes back: it is another cougar.

The simple fact of having confirmed without any doubt the presence of cougars in Quebec settled an intense debate between specialists. "We are still under shock, said Mrs. Jolicoeur. Half of the people believed in cougar presence and the other half did not believe in it. The skeptics were saying: why are none caught? Why do hunters never see any?"

A cougar was indeed killed in Abitibi in 1992, but the genetic evidence showed that it was of Chilean origin..., therefore probably of captive origin. It was the first since 1938, when a hunter killed one close to the border with Maine. "Between 1938 and 1992, there were some sightings, but nothing verifiable, according to Mrs. Jolicoeur. It is a really very elusive animal."

The cougar is also known under the names of mountain lion, panther or puma. It is the largest cat on the continent after the jaguar. The male weighs from 60 to 100 kg, the female, from 35 to 60 kg. Each individual can occupy a territory that can exceed 400 square kilometers.

In the Americas, it is one of the animals whose distribution is most widespread. It is found from Patagonia at the southern tip of South America and as far north as Alaska. But, the more one moves away from the Rockies, the more rare it becomes.

In the east of the continent, the subspecies known under the scientific name Felis concolor cougar was hunted intensely, for its fur and also to protect domestic animals. In Quebec, the cougar is a species likely to be declared vulnerable. The federal government regards the data as insufficient, but that could change.

Marco Festa-Bianchet, professor of biology at the University of Sherbrooke, is president of COSEPAC, the scientific committee of the federal government dealing with threatened species. "Are there cougars in Quebec? The answer is yes, he says. Can one call that a population? Not yet. It would be necessary to have evidence of reproduction."

How do you recognize a cougar? Its body measures approximately a meter and its tail, almost as much. Its pelage goes from brown to gray, but it is more often beige, a little like the whitetail deer. It is the size of a German shepherd.

"The distinctive sign is the tail which is large with a paler end, said Mrs. Jolicoeur. But it happens that people are mistaken. Often, it is confused with lynx or coyotes."

In the winter, the cougar does not leave large prints. The lynx is smaller, but it has broader feet, adapted better to snow. On the other hand, if there is enough snow, the tail of the cougar can trail and leave traces.

One of the great mysteries of the cougar in Quebec is its food. "The Valin mountains are not a very productive area for food, says Mr. Tanguay. The places where cougars were seen are not the places where there are the most deer, which is its usual prey. There are two or three reports of cougars pursuing a hare. Beaver are potential prey as are porcupine. It would not surprise me either that they would attack a lynx or a fox."

But do they attack humans? There were some very publicized cases of attacks on people by cougars these last few years, in the United States and in British Colombia. However, according to Mrs. Jolicoeur, the large cat does not show any sign of aggressiveness in Quebec. "When people met this animal, its reaction was always to escape or to maintain a very calm distance, she says. None ever showed aggressive behavior, of a growl or anything, so I do not think one can say that it is a threat."

What should be done if one believes to have seen one of them? "It is an animal where a report is mandatory, said Mrs. Jolicoeur. We recommend people to report it to the Ministry of Natural resources, Fauna and Parks."

Charles.cote@lapresse.ca