INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. – Rare footage of a cougar was captured on camera for the first time by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, the University of Minnesota research group said.

The footage was taken on Oct. 20 in the southern part of the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, which is an 1,100-mile forested area that hugs the Canadian border in northern Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has verified 59 cougar observations since 2004. Before last month’s sighting, no cougars had ever been spotted in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, though several weren’t too far away, the group said.

Most wild cougars observed in Minnesota are thought to be transient young males traveling from breeding populations of cougars in the western Dakotas, according to the Voyageurs Wolf Project. This is based on evidence from cougars that died or were killed in Minnesota and other Midwestern states.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has verified 59 cougar observations since 2004. Before last month’s sighting, no cougars had ever been spotted in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem, though several weren’t too far away, the group said.