Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service concluded that the Eastern Cougar is extinct:

Although the eastern cougar has been on the endangered species list since 1973, its existence has long been questioned. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) conducted a formal review of the available information and, in a report issued today, concludes the eastern cougar is extinct and recommends the subspecies be removed from the endangered species list…

Many are unconvinced, including myself, as is sightings continue to be reported:

• …a very large cat that was tan in color with a long tail (that I believe was a mountain lion) crossed the road in front of my car!
• We have seen a cougar/mountain lion in our small town on numerous occasions…
• I live in dickenson co. We have had a lot of sightings around here by numerous people…
• I saw a cougar in the mountains west of Woodstock (Zepp area) in the fall of 2010…

My guess is that sightings and evidence will continue to accumulate. Eventually the Fish and Wildlife Service may have to admit their error. It is not unusual for so-called extinct animals to be found again:

A study has found that a third of all mammal species declared extinct in the past few centuries have turned up alive and well.

See Also:

The Eastern Cougar Book Review

Update on Eastern Cougars in Virginia

Recommended Mountain Lion Books

Last year, I read a couple of cougar (aka mountain lion) books that I highly recommend by Chris Bolgiano.

First, Mountain Lion covers a history of mountain lions in the U.S. detailing their behaviors. The subtitle is An unnatural history of pumas and people. Of special interest to Virginians and other Easterners, is the last chapter The Spiritual Challenge of the Eastern Panther.

Second, Eastern Cougar: Historic Accounts, Scientific Investigations, New Evidence compiles evidence of the mountain lion’s existence in the Eastern U.S. While the Florida Panther is the only acknowledged population, after reading the book there is no question of mountain lions elsewhere in the East. The only outstanding question is whether there are breeding populations in the East. Naysayers claim that the substantiated evidence might only be rare migrants from the West or escaped pet lions.

Having seen a mountain lion, I am in the believer camp. I believe the instance of a mountain lion with cubs being hit by a vehicle in Georgia is evidence enough of a small population of eastern cougars (Puma concolor cougar). While the cubs escaped, the sighting (detailed in the book) is highly credible and the physical evidence of the adult female is indisputable.

I highly recommend these books, especially the Eastern Cougar book, for anyone interested in learning more.

Eastern Cougars Extinct?

On March 2, 2011, the U.S. Government released a report saying the eastern mountain lion is extinct. [Note: Eastern panthers, painters, pumas, mountain lions, and cougars all describe the same animal]:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) conducted a formal review of the available information and, in a report issued today, concludes the eastern cougar is extinct and recommends the subspecies be removed from the endangered species list…

Reports of cougars observed in the wild examined during the review process described cougars of other subspecies, often South American subspecies, that had been held in captivity and had escaped or been released to the wild, as well as wild cougars of the western United States subspecies that had migrated eastward to the Midwest…

Recent Mountain Lion Sightings in Virginia Continue

Despite the government report, I am unconvinced that there are not small numbers of a remaining breeding population of eastern mountain lions in Virginia. My wife and I both believe we saw one in 2006.

More recently when we had our dryer repaired earlier this year, the repairman mentioned he heard of a recent sighting near Amissville, Virginia (Rappahannock County).

Additionally “Sheepherder,” a commentator on the Capital Weather Gang blog, recently commented:

There is another mountain lion or three out here in zip codes 20185, 20184, 20117 and 20118.

Those zip codes correspond to Fauquier County.

I was organizing and going through some old magazines and came across this interesting item from the April 2006 Potomac Appalachian:

While on his way to remove a blowdown blocking the Big Run Loop North Trail in late January, Pete saw a big dark colored cougar cross Skyline Drive about 100 yards ahead of his car. It was about five feet long with a long tail and bounded across the drive in one jump…

The incident above is from page 21. The Potomac Appalachian is the newsletter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, which maintains hundreds of miles of hiking trails in the mid-Atlantic region including many trails in Shenandoah National Park (Virginia).

[Via EasternCougar.org]

The Washington Post reports:

A real estate agent reported that she saw an injured mountain lion…

When an animal control officer arrived, the animal was not moving. Upon closer inspection, the officer found that it was a large stuffed toy tiger.

The search for the elusive eastern mountain lion continues.

3/18/2007–I photographed these tracks appearing to be consistent with mountain lion tracks. After posting to Yahoo’s EasternCougar Group, the consensus was that the photo is inconclusive due to snow melt having erased track details.