A wildlife camera captured a fisher in Ohio’s Cleveland Metroparks, marking the species’ first confirmed sighting in Cuyahoga County in more than 100 years, officials said.
The trail camera recorded a fisher, a medium-sized mammal related to weasels, mink and otters, earlier this year, marking the first verified sighting of the species since the 1800s, according to park authorities.
Fishers once ranged widely across Ohio but disappeared from much of the state by the mid-19th century due to unregulated trapping and loss of habitat.
In the video released by Cleveland Metroparks, the animal is seen moving through a wooded area and even briefly looking directly at the camera.
“This is tremendously exciting, as this is yet another extirpated native Ohio mammal species to be documented for the first time in Cleveland Metroparks,” park officials said in a social media post.
“The return of fishers and other extirpated species like otters, bobcats and trumpeter swans are a result of conservation efforts and emphasizes the importance of our healthy forests, wetlands, waterways and natural areas in Cleveland Metroparks,” they continued.
Wildlife biologists say fishers are elusive predators that primarily hunt small mammals such as mice and squirrels. They live in forested areas with large tree canopies and use tree cavities as dens.
While this is the first confirmed sighting in Cuyahoga County in over a century, the animal has been spotted in other parts of northeastern Ohio in recent years, offering a hopeful sign that it may be slowly re-establishing its historic range.
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The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has confirmed more than 40 sightings across northeastern Ohio, most within the past three years, largely due to successful reintroduction efforts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The sighting of pregnant females and evidence of expanding range shows the species is once again establishing itself in the Buckeye State, the department says.
Sightings have occurred in counties including Ashtabula, Columbiana, Geauga, Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage, Lake, Jefferson, Harrison and Tuscarawas.
Officials are encouraging residents who spot fishers in the wild to report their observations to the Ohio Division of Wildlife, which will help track the species’ ongoing recovery.
