Eastern Mountain Lions May Be Extinct, but Locals Still See Them

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 28 Aug 2015 | Jennifer Levitz

[Theoria]

Officials ponder changing cat’s status, causing roar of protest; sighting a ‘U.F.O.’

Diana Marchibroda insists she saw the beast near the Appalachian Trail in Virginia in May. From the woods sauntered a “tall, very sleek” mountain lion, she says. Ms. Marchibroda, a dentist who is 62 years old, says she and her silver-haired miniature schnauzer, Sophie, “both watched in awe.”

“My sighting is ABSOLUTE,” she wrote the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July. “I know what I saw.”

Dozens of similar missives have poured into the agency as it proposes removing the Eastern mountain lion from the list of endangered species, where it has been since 1973. That change comes because the agency believes the creature no longer exists and would effectively render the subspecies extinct.

The roar of protest is from Easterners who contend the formidable felines still roam forests, fields and backyards from Maine to Georgia.

“There was no mistaking that long tail!” wrote one commenter to the agency in June, about an alleged sighting in New York. “Big as my bike,” promised another about a purported lion in Harrisburg, Pa.

The debate is “sort of in the realm of Bigfoot,” but with more scientific basis, says Noah Charney, an expert animal tracker in Western Massachusetts. The occasional mountain lion is spotted in the East, after wandering in from the West, but it is exceedingly uncommon and officials say people are reporting far more sightings than technically possible.

Also called cougars, pumas and panthers, mountain lions boast impressive tails, buff builds and often tawny-brown coats. They thrive in the West and have expanded eastward in recent decades, breeding in spots like South Dakota, with sightings increasing in the Midwest.

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

Different specific epithet:

Jaguar: onca
Mountain lion: concolor

Different genus:

Jaguar: Panthera
Mountain lion: Puma

Different subfamily:

Jaguar: Pantherinae
Mountain lion: Felinae

[editor-surveyor]

Very much related to the orthodoxy of declaring a species extinct to erase the error of having declared it a separate species.

Until you’ve seen them in close proximity, then the name game fails.
.

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

Sorry, but you’ve jumped the shark on this one. Have a good day.

[contrarian]

Try #1

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

Interesting. I’ll go hunt around for my picture posting notes and post it here. I use trail cameras on a regular basis. (They are a world of fun.) The picture is fuzzy, but, if had to guess, I would guess that, if it’s not a huge house cat, that it is an immature mountain lion, but probably normal color phase. The coloring is obviously mottled in the photo, which I would guess is an artifact of the photographic image. If one had to choose between the light and dark sections, I would go with the light sections as the primary color, simply because it makes more sense to do so. If I had seen the picture without any context of location, I might have said jaguarundi. Something doesn’t look quite right about it, but I’m guessing immature mountain lion.

I’ll try to post the picture soon.

[editor-surveyor]

Yes god, of course.

[editor-surveyor]

Yes god, of course.

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

This is a picture sent to me from contrarian:

[contrarian]

There were 2 more pictures I did not post. They show the back half of the critter better- shows the long skinny tail. the camera was about 10 feet from the cat.. I have seen it twice since then- one week later same spot. and one week ago in broad daylight 1/4 mile away as it ran across the road into a field ... I have also heard it scream like the mercury bobcat commercial... makes the hair stand up !!

[contrarian]

Thanks for the help in posting the picture.. Obviously smarter than me.......

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

I’m trying to post an enlarged cropped section. Working on it.

[contrarian]

for reference the object behind the cat is measured 4 feet long/tall.. making the cat approximately the same length when taking magnification into consideration.. definitely not a house cat..

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

Here is an enlarged, cropped section (hopefully):

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

I have been using trail cameras for about four years or so now. I have gotten some magnificent pictures that have enthralled my friends. They don’t realize, though, how many lousy pictures that I have to cull through to get the really good ones. Keep at it. You may get lucky (or even luckier, I might say) and get a better one. Good going!

[contrarian]

I am located in the mountains of N.C. about 70 miles east of Asheville. lots of wild life around here including bobcats, ruffled grouse, wild turkeys, red tail hawks all seen here in the last 6 months

[Engraved-on-His-hands]

I’m not too far from you. I’m between Maryville, Tennessee and the mountains. Live along a river. Same type of stuff here. We’ve only have a little more than an acre, but thus far I’ve gotten pictures of deer, red fox, gray fox, bobcat, beaver, otter, Canada goose, mallards, wood ducks, flying squirrel, raccoons, opossum, great blue heron, turkeys, and more. Still no bear pictures yet. We have had them on the property, but not often. We are still a couple of miles from the mountains. Lots of fun. Great area to live.

[Jeff Chandler]

Family Felidae (cats)

37 species in 18 genera belonging to 3 subfamilies, found worldwide except Antarctica but introduced to Australia.

**********************************************************************************************

**********************************************************************************************

Subfamily Felinae

29 species, found worldwide except Antarctica, but introduced to Australia.

Genus Felis (small cats)

6 Old World species, including the wildcat and domestic cat.

Genus Lynx (lynxes)

4 species, including the bobcat.

Genus Prionailurus (Asian cats)

4 Asian species, including the leopard cat, flat-headed cat, and fishing cat.

Genus Leopardus (spotted cats)

3 primarily Central and South American species: the little spotted cat, margay, and ocelot.

Genus Oncifelis (South American cats)

3 South American species: Geoffroy’s cat, kodkod, and pampas cat.

Genus Catopuma (Asiatic golden cats)

2 Asian species.

Genus Caracal (caracal)

1 African and Southwest Asian species.

Genus Herpailurus (jaguarundi)

1 primarily South American species.

Genus Leptailurus (serval)

1 African species.

Genus Oreailurus (Andean cat)

1 South American species.

Genus Otocolobus (Pallas’s cat)

1 Asian species.

Genus Profelis (African golden cat)

1 African species.

Genus Puma (cougar, mountain lion, or puma)

1 New World species.

**********************************************************************************************

**********************************************************************************************

Subfamily Pantherinae

7 species of Asia, Africa, and South and Central America.

Genus Panthera (big, or roaring, cats)

4 Asian, African, and South and Central American species: the jaguar, lion, leopard, and tiger.

Genus Neofelis (clouded leopard)

2 Southeast Asian species.

Genus Pardofelis (marbled cat)

1 Southeast Asian species.

Genus Uncia (snow leopard, or ounce)

1 Asian species.

Subfamily Acinonychinae

Genus Acinonyx (cheetah)

1 almost exclusively African species.

[Jeff Chandler]

www.britannica.com/animal/feline

www./newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Felidae

[Jeff Chandler]

That's not a panther, that's a hyena.

; )

[eastforker]

Had a ML do that about a month ago here in NE Alabama, wife thought it was the neighbor kid being attacked at 2 am. I told her no, just a big cat.