A fisher has been captured on surveillance cameras at Cleveland Metroparks in Ohio, United States, marking the first sighting of this medium-sized creature in over a century.
The footage was shared on social media by Cleveland Metroparks with excitement, stating that these animals are native to North American forests and had disappeared from Ohio during the mid-1800s. Fishers have never been documented in Britain or elsewhere in Europe, only being found in Canada and the United States.
Cleveland Metroparks confirmed that the Ohio Division of Wildlife verified this sighting as the first record in Cuyahoga County since the species vanished in the 1800s. The fisher is designated as a ‘Species of Special Interest’ by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The Ohio Division of Wildlife estimates that fishers were eliminated from Ohio by the mid-1800s due to unregulated harvest and habitat loss.
The return of fishers and other previously extinct species like otters, bobcats, and trumpeter swans in Cleveland Metroparks is attributed to conservation efforts, underscoring the significance of healthy forests, wetlands, waterways, and natural areas.
Despite being commonly referred to as “fisher cats,” these creatures are not felines but members of the weasel family.
According to Scenic Hudson, fishers are solitary animals that rarely consume fish. Their diet includes fruit, reptiles, amphibians, birds, bird eggs, mushrooms, squirrels, and other mammals.