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As in the eastern U.S., there have been numerous sightings reported by the pubic in [[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.outdoorns.com/features/cougar.htm |date=December 29, 2001 |title=Cougars in the Maritimes: Fact or Fiction? |first1=Kevin |last1=MacDonell |work=[[Outdoor Nova Scotia]]}}</ref> <ref>[http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct1/searchdetail_e.cfm?id=132 Committee on Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.]</ref><ref>[http://www.naturecanada.ca/endangered_know_our_species_ecougar.asp Eastern Cougar, Nature Canada]</ref>
As in the eastern U.S., there have been numerous sightings reported by the pubic in [[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.outdoorns.com/features/cougar.htm |date=December 29, 2001 |title=Cougars in the Maritimes: Fact or Fiction? |first1=Kevin |last1=MacDonell |work=[[Outdoor Nova Scotia]]}}</ref> <ref>[http://www.cosewic.gc.ca/eng/sct1/searchdetail_e.cfm?id=132 Committee on Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.]</ref><ref>[http://www.naturecanada.ca/endangered_know_our_species_ecougar.asp Eastern Cougar, Nature Canada]</ref>


Eastern U.S. reported sightings, many of which reviewed in the recent federal report,<ref name="cnn11">[http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/02/eastern-cougar-declared-extinct-confirming-decades-of-suspicion/ Eastern cougar declared extinct, confirming decades of suspicion], a March 2, 2011 CNN News blog post</ref> in various locations, including [[Michigan]]<ref name="Johnson">{{cite journal |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4444/is_2_19/ai_n28921926/ |title=The Mountain Lions of Michigan |journal= Endangered Species Update |date=March-April, 2002 |first=Kirk |last=Johnson |location=Ann Arbor, MI |publisher=School of Natural Resources and Environment, [[University of Michigan]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=27–31 |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref><ref name=”Tribune”>{{cite news |http://www.dailytribune.com/articles/2008/11/30/news/srv0000004146535.txt |title= Cougar sightings prompt dispute among wildlife organizations |date=November 30, 2008 |first1=Valerie |last1=West |work=Daily Tribune |publisher=Journal Register News Service |accessdate=December 10, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Bolgiano">{{cite book |title=The Eastern Cougar: Historic Accounts, Scientific Investigations, And New Evidence |first1=Chris |last1=Bolgiano |first2=Jerry |last2=Roberts |date=August 10, 2005|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=G6P_LYhjOpYC&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=%22The+mountain+lions+of+Michigan%22&source=bl&ots=V97LrXFRIq&sig=Dt6fzX0_0tCZJMZf-IFVPjG5FHM&hl=en&ei=T97KTOHcG8rJnAfRo6nXDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20mountain%20lions%20of%20Michigan%22&f=false |place=Mechanicsburg |publisher=Stackpole Books |pages=67–78 |pages=246 |isbn=0811732185 |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Butz">{{cite book |last1=Butz |first1= Bob |first2=Jay W (Foreword) |last2=Tischendof |year=2005 |location=|publisher=Lyons Press |isbn=1592284469 |place=City |title=Beast of Never, Cat of God: The Search for the Eastern Puma}} 2005 Winner Michigan Book Award from the [[Library of Michigan]]</ref>, [[Wisconsin]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://easterncougar.org/CougarNews/?p=3026 |title=Wisconsin DNR Wants Hearings on Killing Cougars |work=Eastern Cougar |date=January 26, 2011 |accessdate=January 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinoutdoorfun.com/article/20110126/WOF07/110126002/DNR-wants-hearing-on-killing-cougars |title=Wisconsin DNR Wants Hearings on Killing Cougars |work=Wisconsin Outdoor Fun |publisher=Associated Press |date=January 26, 2011 |accessdate=January 26, 2011}}</ref>, [[southern Indiana]], [[Illinois]], [[Missouri]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hannibal.net/features/x1651173061/Mountain-lion-killed-in-Northeast-Missouri |title=Mountain lion killed in Northeast Missouri |work= [[Hannibal Courier-Post]] |date=January 24, 2011 | |accessdate=February 10, 2011}}</ref>, [[Kentucky]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New York]]<ref name="New York">{{cite journal |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/42763.html |title=Big Cat Tales: Investigating Cougar Sightings in New York |first1=Scott |last1= Van Arsdale |work=[[New York State Conservationist]] |date=February, 2008 |publisher=[[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation]] |accessdate=December 8, 2010}}</ref> [[Maine]]<ref name="Bangor">{{cite news |url=http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Statewide/Maines-ghost-cat-Despite-hundreds-of-sightings-cougars-status-remains-in-doubt,160602 |title=Despite Hundreds of Sightings, Cougar’s Status Remains in Doubt |date=December 3, 2010 | |first1=Kevin |last1=Miller |work=[[Bangor Daily News]] |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref>, [[Arkansas]]<ref name="southeast">{{cite web |url=http://www.cougarnet.org/southeast.html |publisher=The Cougar Network |title=Southeast Sightings |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref>, [[Alabama]]<ref name="southeast"/> [[Louisiana]]<ref name="southeast"/>
Eastern U.S. reported sightings, many of which reviewed in the recent federal report,<ref name="cnn11">[http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/02/eastern-cougar-declared-extinct-confirming-decades-of-suspicion/ Eastern cougar declared extinct, confirming decades of suspicion], a March 2, 2011 CNN News blog post</ref> in various locations, including [[Michigan]]<ref name="Johnson">{{cite journal |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4444/is_2_19/ai_n28921926/ |title=The Mountain Lions of Michigan |journal= Endangered Species Update |date=March-April, 2002 |first=Kirk |last=Johnson |location=Ann Arbor, MI |publisher=School of Natural Resources and Environment, [[University of Michigan]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=27–31 |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref><ref name=”Tribune”>{{cite news |http://www.dailytribune.com/articles/2008/11/30/news/srv0000004146535.txt |title= Cougar sightings prompt dispute among wildlife organizations |date=November 30, 2008 |first1=Valerie |last1=West |work=Daily Tribune |publisher=Journal Register News Service |accessdate=December 10, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Bolgiano">{{cite book |title=The Eastern Cougar: Historic Accounts, Scientific Investigations, And New Evidence |first1=Chris |last1=Bolgiano |first2=Jerry |last2=Roberts |date=August 10, 2005|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=G6P_LYhjOpYC&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=%22The+mountain+lions+of+Michigan%22&source=bl&ots=V97LrXFRIq&sig=Dt6fzX0_0tCZJMZf-IFVPjG5FHM&hl=en&ei=T97KTOHcG8rJnAfRo6nXDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20mountain%20lions%20of%20Michigan%22&f=false |place=Mechanicsburg |publisher=Stackpole Books |pages=67–78 |pages=246 |isbn=0811732185 |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Butz">{{cite book |last1=Butz |first1= Bob |first2=Jay W (Foreword) |last2=Tischendof |year=2005 |location=|publisher=Lyons Press |isbn=1592284469 |place=City |title=Beast of Never, Cat of God: The Search for the Eastern Puma}} 2005 Winner Michigan Book Award from the [[Library of Michigan]]</ref>, [[Wisconsin]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://easterncougar.org/CougarNews/?p=3026 |title=Wisconsin DNR Wants Hearings on Killing Cougars |work=Eastern Cougar |date=January 26, 2011 |accessdate=January 26, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinoutdoorfun.com/article/20110126/WOF07/110126002/DNR-wants-hearing-on-killing-cougars |title=Wisconsin DNR Wants Hearings on Killing Cougars |work=Wisconsin Outdoor Fun |publisher=Associated Press |date=January 26, 2011 |accessdate=January 26, 2011}}</ref>, [[Southern Indiana]], [[Illinois]], [[Missouri]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hannibal.net/features/x1651173061/Mountain-lion-killed-in-Northeast-Missouri |title=Mountain lion killed in Northeast Missouri |work= [[Hannibal Courier-Post]] |date=January 24, 2011 | |accessdate=February 10, 2011}}</ref>, [[Kentucky]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New York]]<ref name="New York">{{cite journal |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/42763.html |title=Big Cat Tales: Investigating Cougar Sightings in New York |first1=Scott |last1= Van Arsdale |work=[[New York State Conservationist]] |date=February, 2008 |publisher=[[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation]] |accessdate=December 8, 2010}}</ref> [[Maine]]<ref name="Bangor">{{cite news |url=http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Statewide/Maines-ghost-cat-Despite-hundreds-of-sightings-cougars-status-remains-in-doubt,160602 |title=Despite Hundreds of Sightings, Cougar’s Status Remains in Doubt |date=December 3, 2010 | |first1=Kevin |last1=Miller |work=[[Bangor Daily News]] |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref>, [[Arkansas]]<ref name="southeast">{{cite web |url=http://www.cougarnet.org/southeast.html |publisher=The Cougar Network |title=Southeast Sightings |accessdate=December 9, 2010}}</ref>, [[Alabama]]<ref name="southeast"/> [[Louisiana]]<ref name="southeast"/>




Revision as of 04:59, 5 March 2011

Eastern Cougar

Extinct (2011) (ESA)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Carnivora
Family:
Felidae
Genus:
Puma
Species:
P. concolor
Subspecies:
P. concolor couguar
Trinomial name
Puma concolor couguar

Eastern Cougar (Puma concolor couguar) is considered a subspecies of the North American cougar.[2][3] A consensus exists among wildlife officials in 21 eastern states that the eastern cougar subspecies aas been extirpated from eastern North America.

Yet various residents of eastern North America, especially in rural regions, have reported as many as 10,000 cougar sightings since the 1960s [4] and many continue to believe the subspecies has survived.[5]

A few dozen or more of these sightings have been confirmed by biologists, many of whom believe they are accounted for by escaped captives and/or individual members of the western subspecies who have wandered hundreds of miles from their established breeding ranges in the Dakotas.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed all available research and other information, and concluded in 2011 that the eastern cougar subspecies has beeen extinct since the 1930s, and recommended that it be removed from its list of endangered species.[1] The agency used the 1946 taxonomy of S.P. Young & E.A. Goldman in defining the eastern cougar subspecies. While noting that some taxonomists in recent years have classified all North American cougars within a single subspecies, the agency's 2011 report said "a full taxonomic analysis is necessary to conclude that a revision to the Young and Goldman (1946) taxonomy is warranted."[6]

A 1998 study for Candada's federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada concluded "that there is no objective evidence (actual cougar specimens or other unequivocal confirmation) for the continuous presence of cougars since the last century anywhere in eastern Canada or the eastern United States outside of Florida." [7].

Based on this, in 1999, the magazine Canadian Geographic reported that for the previous half century, a debate over whether or not Canada's eastern woods host a cougar species all its own has raged. "Now the answer appears to be 'no.' Experts say past sightings were cases of mistaken identification."[8]

However, the Canadian committee's Web site as of 2011 says that data is "insufficient" to draw conclusions regarding the subspecie's continued existence, or even whether it ever existed at all.[9][5]

As in the eastern U.S., there have been numerous sightings reported by the pubic in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia[10] [11][12]

Eastern U.S. reported sightings, many of which reviewed in the recent federal report,[13] in various locations, including Michigan[14][15][16][17], Wisconsin[18][19], Southern Indiana, Illinois, Missouri[20], Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York[21] Maine[22], Arkansas[23], Alabama[23] Louisiana[23]


The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007 began a review of scientific and commercial information to determine the status of the endangered eastern cougar, the first review the service has done since publishing a recovery plan in 1982, according to a news release published by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.[24] As part of the review, the USFWS sought information on the status of the eastern cougar in 21 states—from Maine to South Carolina and westward from Michigan to Tennessee—where the Endangered Species Act protects it.[24]

Bigfoot factor

Up until around 1990, reports of mountain lions in the Midwest and East were highly influenced by the "Bigfoot factor," according to Mark Dowling, co-founder of the Eastern Cougar Network. "None of it was really real," he said in an interview.[25] But the situation has changed dramatically since that time according to Dowling, whose group collects and disseminates data on the shifting mountain-lion population.[25]

Dowling said in 2003 that sightings in the eastern half of the nation, including Michigan, etc. were "almost certainly" escaped captives, but he added that the notion that (Western) cougars "will eventually reach New Jersey" is a reasonable prediction, in part due to increased populations of whitetail deer.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concludes eastern cougar extinct". fws.org. March 2, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  2. ^ Lutz, John A.; Lutz, Linda A. (October 2001). "Century-Old Mystery Rises From the Shadows" (PDF). North American BioFortean Review. 3 (7). Eastern Puma Research Network and Zoological Miscellania website: 34, 38. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Arment, Chad (October 2001). "Possible Cougar Photographed in Maryland" (PDF). North American BioFortean Review. 3 (7). Zoological Miscellania website: 55. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  4. ^ Eastern puma (=cougar) (Puma concolor couguar) 5-YEAR REVIEW: Summary and Evaluation; Mark McCollough U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Maine Field Office Orono, Maine March 2011 page 38
  5. ^ a b Barringer, Felicity. "U.S. Declares Eastern Cougar Extinct, With an Asterisk". The New York Times date=March 2, 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-02. {{cite news}}: Missing pipe in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Young, S.P., and E.A. Goldman. 1946. The puma: Mysterious American cat. American Wildlife Institute, Washington, D.C.
  7. ^ Scott, F.W. 1998. Update of COSEWIC status report on cougar (Felis concolor couguar), eastern population. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  8. ^ Harry Thurston (September–October 1999). "Can the eastern cougar debate be laid to rest?". Canadian Geographic. 119 (6). Ottawa: 18.
  9. ^ Montreal Gazette: U.S. officials declare eastern cougar extinct, despite sightings in Canada
  10. ^ MacDonell, Kevin (December 29, 2001). "Cougars in the Maritimes: Fact or Fiction?". Outdoor Nova Scotia.
  11. ^ Committee on Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
  12. ^ Eastern Cougar, Nature Canada
  13. ^ Eastern cougar declared extinct, confirming decades of suspicion, a March 2, 2011 CNN News blog post
  14. ^ Johnson, Kirk (March-April, 2002). "The Mountain Lions of Michigan". Endangered Species Update. 19 (2). Ann Arbor, MI: School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan: 27–31. Retrieved December 9, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ West, Valerie (November 30, 2008). "Cougar sightings prompt dispute among wildlife organizations". Daily Tribune. Journal Register News Service. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Text "http://www.dailytribune.com/articles/2008/11/30/news/srv0000004146535.txt" ignored (help)
  16. ^ Bolgiano, Chris; Roberts, Jerry (August 10, 2005). The Eastern Cougar: Historic Accounts, Scientific Investigations, And New Evidence. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books. p. 246. ISBN 0811732185. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  17. ^ Butz, Bob; Tischendof, Jay W (Foreword) (2005). Beast of Never, Cat of God: The Search for the Eastern Puma. City: Lyons Press. ISBN 1592284469. 2005 Winner Michigan Book Award from the Library of Michigan
  18. ^ "Wisconsin DNR Wants Hearings on Killing Cougars". Eastern Cougar. January 26, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  19. ^ "Wisconsin DNR Wants Hearings on Killing Cougars". Wisconsin Outdoor Fun. Associated Press. January 26, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  20. ^ "Mountain lion killed in Northeast Missouri". Hannibal Courier-Post. January 24, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2011. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  21. ^ Van Arsdale, Scott (February, 2008). "Big Cat Tales: Investigating Cougar Sightings in New York". New York State Conservationist. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Retrieved December 8, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ Miller, Kevin (December 3, 2010). "Despite Hundreds of Sightings, Cougar's Status Remains in Doubt". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved December 9, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  23. ^ a b c "Southeast Sightings". The Cougar Network. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  24. ^ a b "USFWS Begins Review of Mountain Lion Status in East" (Press release). Pennsylvania Game Commission. March 1, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  25. ^ a b c "Mountain Lions Headed for Atlantic City?". Insight on the News. 19 (17). Washington: 16-17. August 5, 2003.

Further reading

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