"Incredibly rare": Despite its death, DNR says cougar sighting in Twin Cities suburb is "encouraging"
SAVAGE, Minn. -- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials say it's likely a cougar spotted and photographed near a Shakopee neighborhood Monday night had likely traveled hundreds of miles on foot from the Dakotas.
The cougar was spotted around 9 p.m. Monday near the intersection of Preserve Trail and Stagecoach Road, east of County Road 18. DNR officials say it was likely later that night or early the following morning when a driver in Savage hit and killed the animal.
The DNR says the prior sighting, captured on camera by teenager Andrew Pastrana, is a rarity.
"Every two or three years we probably have (a sighting) that's a confirmed," said Bob Fashingbauer of the Minnesota DNR. "To get an actual photograph…makes all the difference in the world."
Fashingbauer says despite the photo not showing the entire animal, certain characteristics made it clear it was a cougar.
"It was pretty diagnostic with the coloration and the size and the blockiness of its head," he said. "Typically, it's length of tail, body size, height."
The cougar's body is now being housed in a DNR facility in Rosemount. It will next go to Grand Rapids for a necropsy, which will help researchers determine its age.
"It's kind of a bummer to see a beautiful creature like that get hit by a car, but unfortunately when you get down to this several county metro area, vehicle collusions are a part of the game," Fashingbauer said.
The teenager who took the now-viral photo says he will always remember the experience.
"I know it's rare just to see them, but to get a good picture of them is even more rare," said Pastrana, of Shakopee, who spotted the animal while heading home with family. "So I'm just going to cherish all the memories I've made from this."
According to a DNR tracking tool, the last time a cougar had been spotted in the Twin Cities metro was during the fall of 2021. DNR officials say it's likely the cougar followed the path of the Minnesota River Valley.
"The Minnesota River corridor is pretty phenomenal with the fact that it's still pretty wild, where an animal can come all the way from North or South Dakota and travel along there and get all the way in the seven county metro area," Fashingbauer said.