A fisher was captured on surveillance cameras at Cleveland Metroparks in Ohio, U.S., marking the first sighting of this medium-sized creature in over a century. Cleveland Metroparks shared the footage on social media, expressing great excitement. These animals are native to North American forests and disappeared from Ohio during the mid-1800s, never being spotted in Europe, only in Canada and the United States.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife confirmed that this sighting in Cleveland Metroparks is the first on record in Cuyahoga County since the species vanished in the 1800s. Designated as a ‘Species of Special Interest’ by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the fisher was believed to have disappeared from Ohio due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss.
The return of fishers, along with other previously extinct species like otters, bobcats, and trumpeter swans, highlights the importance of conservation efforts and the preservation of healthy forests, wetlands, waterways, and natural areas in Cleveland Metroparks. Despite often being called “fisher cats,” they are not felines but members of the weasel family.
According to Scenic Hudson, fishers are solitary creatures that rarely consume fish. Their diet includes fruits, reptiles, amphibians, birds, bird eggs, mushrooms, squirrels, and other mammals.