Mono is NW of Toronto in southern Ontario.
The article is incorrect in stating that cougar sightings are rare. Throughout the eastern and midwestern United States, it is easy to collect hundreds of alleged sightings. First of all, what is a sighting? As Cougar Rewilding defines it, a sighting occurs when someone sees an animal, decides it is a cougar, and reports it. Unfortunately, based on our experience reviewing hundreds of wildlife photographs purported to be cougars, we’ve determined that almost all sightings in the East are cases of mistaken identity, primarily of bobcats, and even housecats. It seems that people sometimes greatly overestimate the sizes of distant cats. Even in western states such as California, more than 90% of sightings are misidentifications.
In contrast to a sighting, a confirmation is just that. A cougar may or may not have been seen, but the evidence–a photograph, video, track, scat (dropping), hair sample, or characteristic deer kill–pertains to a cougar. But confirming that a piece of evidence is cougar is not enough. Photos and videos must be ground-truthed–checked out in the field to make sure that the correct locality has been given. In the past, many alleged cougar photos from the East were actually taken in the West. Some people go beyond that and resort to PhotoShopping.
So were there two cougar sightings in Mono? Without evidence, we can’t say.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1216889–rare-cougar-sightings-stir-concern-in-mono
Toronto Star
Rare cougar sightings stir concern in Mono
Graham Slaughter Staff Reporter
Two extremely rare cougar sightings in the town of Mono, Ont., have sparked both concern and excitement.