Our melanistic cougar sighting occurred late spring in our own backyard, just over 10 years ago. As a safari guide I know that melanistic and unusual colouring in animals is uncommon, but it does occur, and photographs of variations show many possibilities https://boredomtherapy.com/animal-color-mutations (Katzir, 2014).
Recent literature on the ecology and evolution of melanistic big cats focuses on leopards and jaguars (Silva, 2017), and suggests they are more prevalent in moist forests (Zaccaria, 2019; Cave, 2018) but to date, no melanistic cougar has been officially recorded in North America although melanistic bobcats have been killed and recorded in New Brunswick and Florida (Fowler, 2016). However, if it can occur elsewhere, surely it is a possibility here? After all, we still have much to learn about our natural world.
Our property lies at the edge of a small, rural town, surrounded by wilderness. Wildlife passes through regularly using the corridor of the nearby wildlife sanctuary and we see deer daily, bear often, and have seen wolf, moose, cougar, fox, coyotes, pine marten, and the occasional mass salamander migration over the years. Returning home early evening to put the guinea fowl in for safety we heard a loud commotion and I traced the squawking to the back of the fire pit, peering up into the trees to see the cause of distress. In the growing dusk, I saw a large black animal about 12 feet up in the tree with one of our lavender guinea fowl in its mouth, delicate lavender feathers drifting down in front of me. Instantly furious, I yelled with ferocious intensity to let her go, while my partner cracked the bullwhip and yelled at me with similar intensity to leave it and come back to the house. The guinea fowl dropped to the ground and I stooped to pick her up, unhurt, at the base of the tree. As I stood to leave, the large inky shadow silently dropped to the ground with indisputable feline grace and dissolved into the night with a flick of a tail as long as it’s body. It was unmistakably a big cat, so dark coloured as to appear black. Early the next morning we got another fleeting glimpse of it on the fringes of the wildlife sanctuary, and in that light too it looked black. Recounting our sighting to a local resident, she recalled seeing a similar looking cougar with her family while fishing on the nearby Kinbasket Lake, in the early 1980’s.
The Robson Valley is also home to old growth inland temperate rainforests and recent research by UNBC shows that “the number of species we found, the number of rare species, and the number of new species has been a real surprise” (Coxson, 2018, as cited in New Biodiversity Study Reveals Thousands of Rare Species in Inland Temperate Rainforest, 2018). Although they are discussing plants, it lends credence to the many unknowns and undiscovered ecosystem influences yet to be found. Melanism is an unusual genetic predisposition in big cats but whether it is also an adaptive capacity that influences resilience (Farley & Voinov, 2016, p. 393) remains to be seen, and it does lead me to wonder further about the link between them and moist inland rainforests.
Four experts from a variety of fields were contacted in advance and were kind enough to comment on this sighting:
• Dr. Derek Keeping PBIOL, RPBIO - Wildlife Ecologist and Environmental Consultant. Contact: 403-307-5595, derek@skylarkecological.com, http://skylarkecological.com/
Dear Shona,
Yours is a very well-written and interesting note indeed. I like how you cite the UNBC interior rainforest study suggesting it "lends credence to the many unknowns and undiscovered ecosystems". Every time I have the privilege of venturing into your neck of the woods (headwaters of the Fraser and Columbia rivers), I am absolutely staggered by the wilderness. It's not lost on me either the geographic parallels between your extremely rare sighting and the sasquatch phenomenon. The so-called expert arm-chair critics of both, i.e. "one MUST have been hit on the road or shot already, therefore you were seeing something else" - clearly have the vaguest conception of what the northern Columbia mountains are actually like. Reminds me too of the recent cave discovery in your backyard - Wells Gray - somehow the largest cave in the country remained hidden in your backyard wilderness, until now. Who knows what the next year brings. I have no doubt that you saw a melanistic puma. There's no mistaking a large long-tailed cat with guineafowl in mouth in your backyard.
(Derek Keeping, PhD, RPBio, Skylark Ecological)
• Mr. Rob Bustin - Local Fishing and Hunting Guide and avid outdoor enthusiast - observed what we assume is the same animal, on the road to Kinbasket Lake, some weeks after our encounter. Contact: 250-566-1278, leahbustin@hotmail.com
We were coming back from fishing on Kinbasket Lake and in the distance, I spotted what I thought was a scrawny bear. The so-called bear was maybe one hundred yards away. I stopped the vehicle and watched the so-called bear twitch it’s long three-foot tail twice and bound off the road in one giant leap. I thought to myself, that’s no bear, that’s a cougar. I then drove towards where the cougar had jumped off the road and did what I do every time I’ve seen a cougar of which I’ve seen seven. I got out of the truck to try and see it. Of course, I looked for a good minute to no avail. As soon as I was about to climb back into the truck and give up looking, the big cat swished it’s tail twice and jumped down the bank into the bush disappearing out of sight. I’ll never forget the colour of the huge cat. Not quite black, not quite brown. A beautiful mix of both colours, like a chocolate lab. Interesting animals I’ve seen in the same area include blonde grizzlies and blonde black bears, and a half white and half brown whitetailed deer.
(Rob Bustin, Professional hunter and fishing guide, Valemount, BC)
• Mr. Milton Balon - Local Professional Trapper with decades of experience and extensive remote trap line in the Monashee Mountains. Contact: 250-566-4749, miltonebalon@hotmail.com
Wow Shona thanks for sharing that story with us the rare siting of a black cougar on the block is incredible makes the hair stand up on my neck when I go out at night keep up the good work. I’ve only seen deer that look like a palomino horse and cougars that are regular tan in my travels guess I’ll have to keep my eyes open.
(Milton Balon, Professional Trapper, Valemount, BC)
• Mr. Chris Zimmerman – Mt. Robson Provincial Park Ranger for 28 years, local resident and avid rock climber 250-566-8416, zimma.chris@gmail.com
Hi Shona, as a reply to your sighting of a black cougar, I have the following comment: I have only seen 3 or 4 cougars myself in a twenty year period, no black ones, but have heard the following stories: apparently Bob Weeks and Gene Blackman both have seen a black Cougar in this area. I can imagine that a black cougar would have a slight advantage if he/she is hunting at dusk (just guessing). From a personal experience I can say that wolves come in quite a variety of colours from almost black to fairly light coloured and one more thing came to my mind: for a few years we used to have a couple of albino marmots at Berg Lake.
(Chris Zimmerman, BC Park Ranger for 28 years, Valemount, BC)
David Oswald writes: This has to be one of the most interesting Observations I have seen from the classes I have taught.
The highlight for me is this quote from one of the consults: "Every time I have the privilege of venturing into your neck of the woods (headwaters of the Fraser and Columbia rivers), I am absolutely staggered by the wilderness. It's not lost on me either the geographic parallels between your extremely rare sighting and the sasquatch phenomenon" .... the Sasquatch is out there .... :)
Awesome job on this one. Posts like these bring a lot of value to the platform, in my opinion. - David.
References
Cave, A. (2018, March 15). How often can big cats be black? | Panthera. Panthera. https://www.panthera.org/blog/2018/03/15/how-often-can-big-cats-be-black
Farley, J., & Voinov, A. (2016). Economics, socio-ecological-resilience, and ecosystem services. Journal of Environmental Management, 183(2), 389-398.
Fowler, S. (2016, December 30). Appearance of black bobcats in New Brunswick puzzles biologist | CBC News. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/melanistic-black-bobcat-new-brunswick-1.3916091
Katzir, A. (2014, May 28). 37 Animals with the most unique color mutations in the world. BoredomTherapy. https://boredomtherapy.com/animal-color-mutations
Silva, L. G. da. (2017). Ecology and evolution of melanism in big cats: Case study with black leopards and jaguars. In Big Cats. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69558
New biodiversity study reveals thousands of rare species in inland temperate rainforest. (2018, September 10). University of Northern British Columbia. https://www2.unbc.ca/newsroom/unbc-stories/new-biodiversity-study-reveals-thousands-rare-species-inland-temperate-rainforest
Zaccaria, J. (2019, October 18). Wild cats 101: Black cats and more on melanism | Panthera. Panthera. https://www.panthera.org/blog/2019/10/22/wild-cats-101-black-cats-and-more-melanism
Black panther
Observations From Members