| On March 15, 2005, Detroit Police Officer Mark Amos saw the cat and called it a cougar. The sightings occurred along Irving Street about .35 miles South of 15 Mile Road and 600 feet East of Van Dyke Road in Sterling Heights. Later, the cat was videotaped at 10:14 a.m. from a camera mounted on the dash of a patrol car driven by Officer Jon Pachia while Animal Control Officer (ACO) Gail Stewart watched. Click here to read the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy's analysis of the video calculating it to be a young cougar about 16" high at the shoulder. |
| The Michigan Department of Natural Resources does not have an official position on this video. Several biologists from the Michigan DNR and DNRs from other states have seen the film and debated whether the animal was a bobcat or feral cat. According to the DNR, no biologist has ever said the animal is a cougar. |
| Picture comparisons can be very helpful in determining species. Here is a picture taken in Carbury, South Dakota. You may need to save and enlarge it to get the full details of the cougar. This South Dakota cougar looks very similar to the cat shown in Michigan's Sterling Heights video. |
