ROCHESTER, N.Y. – State environmental officials are investigating reports of a large feline roaming within city limits after a Rochester homeowner’s security camera recorded what appears to be a mountain lion early Wednesday morning.
Stephany Baez shared the footage on Facebook, showing the animal walking through her yard around 4 a.m.
“It doesn’t look like a normal cat,” Baez wrote. “It is something scary and I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) confirmed it responded to the sighting and conducted measurements at the scene. Officials said evidence suggests the animal could be a cougar.
“If this is actually a cougar, given the location within city limits, it is most likely not a wild cat that arrived to the region on its own, but rather a cat that was previously captive, possibly as an illegal pet,” the DEC said in a statement to the Democrat & Chronicle.
Mountain lions, also known as cougars, were once native to New York State. The eastern cougar was declared extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011 after the last confirmed sighting occurred in 1938.
DEC officials have not confirmed the animal’s identity and continue to investigate.
