The first indisputable evidence is in: Cougars roam the wild in Southern Ontario.
A conference will be told today DNA from feces found at a bog near Port Colborne two years ago confirms a cougar was in that area.
"We now have evidence of a real cougar in the wild here in Ontario," said Frank Mallory, a professor at Sudbury's Laurentian University.
Mallory is to release the findings at the Midwestern-Eastern Puma Conference hosted by the Ontario Puma Foundation.
"We've had hundreds of sightings in Ontario for many, many years, a lot by some very credible people who know their wildlife," said Mallory, a biologist specializing in predator/ prey research.
"Everybody can't be wrong, but, until now, we haven't had any physical evidence."
The feces was found near a suspected den at the Wainfleet Bog, about five kilometres northwest of Port Colborne at the east end of Lake Erie.
DNA testing was done at the Ministry of Natural Resources' laboratory at Trent University.
The biggest unanswered question still is whether the cougar is an "exotic" pet from South America that escaped or was released, or a remnant of the North American cougar that once roamed across the continent, including Ontario.
Mallory said more DNA testing will be done on the feces this summer to determine the cougar's origin.
The last official sighting of a cougar in Ontario was in 1884.
In the 1884 case, the cougar was shot near Creemore, about 20 kilometres west of Barrie.
Once considered extinct, it is now listed as endangered by the province after hundreds of sightings over the last decade, more than 500 since 2002.
There have been regular sightings in the London area, especially on First Nations land southwest of here along the Thames River.
Rick Rosatte, a Natural Resources Ministry research scientist based in Peterborough, isn't convinced the debate is over.
"Just because there are sightings, that's not definitive proof," he said. "The best evidence would be road kill."
Rosatte said the concensus among experts is that cougars in Southern Ontario are likely pets that either escaped or were released, as opposed to a native population.
And, he added, considering the cougar's range of up to 1,000 square kilometres, more sightings doesn't necessarily mean more cougars, which would point to a breeding population.
"They have a great ability to move, so you may see them in one location, then the same animal could pop up somewhere else hundreds of kilometres away," he said.
The ministry has done no formal research on cougars. But Rosatte said he and other researchers have set up scratch posts to try to collect hairs for analysis. They've collected several samples that have yet to be tested.
In the meantime, Rosatte said it's unlikely the ministry will make any announcements about cougars in the near future.
"When we get to the point where we've determined there's a breeding population, that would be something to tell the world," he said.
COUGARS
Other names: Puma, mountain lion, eastern panther.
Description: Brownish-grey, reddish-brown or light beige, although it's estimated up to 25 per cent are black. Undersides are buff white. Sides of the jaw, back of rounded ears and tip of tail are black. Males may be up to 2.7 metres long and 60 to 100 kilograms; females are up to 2.3 metres long and 35 to 60 kgs.
Food: Primarily white-tail deer and elk, but also beaver, rabbits, grouse, skunks and woodchucks.
Range: The male has a range of 150 to 1,000 square kilometres; female 65 to 500 square kilometres.
Sightings: Cougars are native to North America but were frequently shot as the continent developed. That, combined with their preference for solitude and bushy areas, make sightings rare.
