Once when I was a pre-teen and out hiking, I had a close encounter with a black footed ferret...which was officially extinct at the time. A few decades later, they were re-discovered and upgraded from extinct to endangered.
A friend of mine spotted the endangered wolverine a few years ago in an area where it’s said that none officially exist.
Recently local ranchers have lost livestock to wolves where the Fish and Wildlife Dept says there are no wolves.
It happens.
Talk to any cattle or sheep rancher in Wyoming about wolves, cougar or coyotes and they hiss. Like this: SSS
Which could also mean "Shoot, Shovel and Shut up"