Mountain lion captured on video in Duluth

DULUTH — A mountain lion passed through Duluth in recent days, a rare event for an animal not known to live in Minnesota.

Duluth contractor Ryan Grumdahl got a notification on his phone Sunday morning indicating activity on a surveillance camera at his property near McQuade Harbor on the North Shore.

"I knew what it was right away," he said. "It's crazy to see one in the wild, but to get it on video."

He notified Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Kipp Duncan, who confirmed the sighting. Duncan said there is no documentation of a breeding population in the state, but he's received many reports from residents in the region who say they saw one.

"This is pretty obvious," he said of Grumdahl's video.

Duncan has seen video from two other area residents, one from Sunday and one from Monday, likely showing the same mountain lion, also known as a cougar.

The animal has a wide range, with the Black Hills of western South Dakota the closest.

According to the DNR website, the agency has verified more than 50 mountain lion sightings in the state since 2004, while receiving reports of sightings every year. One was captured on a trail cam by wolf researchers in Voyageurs National Park in November.

The DNR doesn't yet have scat or DNA samples to test to see what region the mountain lion came from, but Duncan said the three sightings were within 10 or so miles of each other.

He guesses the animal was traveling east, came upon Lake Superior and perhaps turned back in the other direction.

"Who knows where this is going to end up?" Duncan said. "It's going to be seen many more times, I would assume."