{"id":347060,"date":"2025-12-13T20:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/347060\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T20:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:57:07","slug":"fisher-spotted-in-cleveland-metroparks-for-first-time-since-1800s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/347060\/","title":{"rendered":"Fisher spotted in Cleveland Metroparks for first time since 1800s"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 A wildlife camera in the Cleveland Metroparks has captured a sight not documented in Cuyahoga County for well over a century: a fisher, a once-vanished native mammal long believed to be gone from Ohio, the park system announced Saturday in an Instagram post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Metroparks officials said the elusive animal was identified earlier this year by Wildlife Management Coordinator Andy Burmesch who reviewed the footage and alerted state experts. The Ohio Division of Wildlife later verified the sighting, confirming it as the county\u2019s first recorded fisher since the species disappeared in the 1800s.<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Metroparks said fishers, medium-sized forest mammals related to weasels and otters, were eradicated in Ohio by the mid-1800s due to unregulated trapping and widespread habitat destruction. They are currently listed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as a \u201cSpecies of Special Interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: Evidence suggests fishers starting to colonize NE Ohio after having disappeared entirely in the 1800s<\/a><\/p>\n

Metroparks leaders called the reappearance \u201ctremendously exciting,\u201d noting it marks yet another native species once wiped out in Ohio to naturally return to the region.<\/p>\n