CLEVELAND — A once-extirpated animal last seen in Cuyahoga County in the 1800s has been spotted on a Cleveland Metroparks trail camera.
Over the weekend, Cleveland Metroparks announced that a fisher was filmed in January in one of the parks. The park system said that Wildlife Coordinator Andy Burmesch identified the animal after reviewing the footage.
The weasel-like animals, which are part of the mustelid family and listed as a species of special interest by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, were thought to have been rooted out or destroyed from our area more than 200 years ago. Fishers can sometimes be mistaken for mink or river otters, which are in the same family.
The animal is a predator that hunts small mammals such as mice and squirrels. They range from 2 to 4 feet long, but half their length is their tail. They average about the size of a large house cat.
According to the Ohio Division of Wildlife's 2024 furbearer monitoring report, the first modern-day fisher found in the state was in 2013. Since then, there have been 56 sightings across eight counties between 2013 and 2024.
"This is tremendously exciting, as this is yet another extirpated native Ohio mammal species to be documented for the first time in Cleveland Metroparks. The return of fishers and other extirpated species like otters, bobcats and trumpeter swans are a result of conservation efforts and emphasize the importance of our healthy forests, wetlands, waterways and natural areas in Cleveland Metroparks," Cleveland Metroparks said.
This isn't the first time that a fisher has been spotted in Northeast Ohio in recent years. In March 2024, a fisher hit by a car was found on State Route 167 in Ashtabula County. The incident was reported to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
State officials said that fishers have now been spotted on trail cameras across multiple areas in the state.
WATCH: An animal that was extirpated from Northeast Ohio is making a comeback
If you spot a fisher, you can report it to the Ohio Division of Wildlife by CLICKING HERE.
