Posted on 03/02/2011 6:40:18 PM PST by americanophile
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The "ghost cat" is just that.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday declared the eastern cougar to be extinct, confirming a widely held belief among wildlife biologists that native populations of the big cat were wiped out by man a century ago.
After a lengthy review, federal officials concluded there are no breeding populations of cougars — also known as pumas, panthers, mountain lions and catamounts — in the eastern United States. Researchers believe the eastern cougar subspecies has probably been extinct since the 1930s.
Wednesday's declaration paves the way for the eastern cougar to be removed from the endangered species list, where it was placed in 1973. The agency's decision to declare the eastern cougar extinct does not affect the status of the Florida panther, another endangered wildcat.
Some hunters and outdoors enthusiasts have long insisted there's a small breeding population of eastern cougars, saying the secretive cats have simply eluded detection — hence the "ghost cat" moniker. The wildlife service said Wednesday it confirmed 108 sightings between 1900 and 2010, but that these animals either escaped or were released from captivity, or migrated from western states to the Midwest.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service fully believes that some people have seen cougars, and that was an important part of the review that we did," said Mark McCollough, an endangered species biologist who led the agency's eastern cougar study. "We went on to evaluate where these animals would be coming from."
A breeding population of eastern cougars would almost certainly have left evidence of its existence, he said. Cats would have been hit by cars or caught in traps, left tracks in the snow or turned up on any of the hundreds of thousands of trail cameras that dot Eastern forests.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Please.
Cougars are a threat to children, livestock, and pet animals.
If you feel that way, join the Sierra Club.
OK where are the cougar jokes ?
It took a lot of hard work and not a little danger to get rid of these horrible predators over several hundred years. Job well done! Stay vigilant.
This can’t be true. I thought there were still florida panthers left.
The sub species known as Rinos?
Oh no we love cougars!
what’s next....? Americans
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see a few small fluffy dogs eaten by cougars...ok make that all of them.
The cats are small ~ like domestic cats.
12,500 years ago humans already knew they didn't live well with large cats around and had DISPOSED of all the lions, tigers, dontinae (Felidae), Barbourofelidae (Feliformia), and Nimravidae (Feliformia) anywhere near them!
Still, one of the reasons for disposing of your dead on platforms where the buzzards consume their flesh is to avoid FEEDING LARGE CATS, LARGE BEARS, LARGE WOLVES, or any of those other nasty animals we just don't want to have around.
Like we say today "Don't Feed The Troll", back then they said "Don't Feed The Cats".
It is good that the Eastern Cougar is gone. If God wants there to be another large predator, He'll make one for us. Until then, let them be gone!
Are these people trying to say that having big predator cats prowling the streets and suburbs of say, Philadelphia, would be a ~good~ thing?
In Minnesota, wildlife “researchers” had declared the cougar to be extinct for decades if not a century of more. Despite reports of local folks up north and hunters, the DNR stuck to their story and sneered at the reports as nothing more than yokels telling boogerman stories in roadhouse bars.
Until somebody creamed one on a highway . . .
Then, of course, “science” was on the job detirmining what was going on. Meanwhile, the cats are all over - including at least one shooting of a aggressive cougar in suburan Bloomington still within the metropolitan area river system.
Wolves, too, are an example of ESA genuius run amok. The time has arrived for wolf bounties to be reintroduced and scores of former pet owners, livestock owners and dead and eaten people would agree. Deeper research into Cooper’s hawks, Spotted owls and many other ESA scams would benefit the reader as well.
I’m torn on this. On the one hand, I’d kill any cougar that attacked me. But on the other hand, I’d like them to come back and harass all the anti gun creeps and others that think they are above using physical force.
This flunks the smell test big time for me, given the loose and promiscuous way the gubmint assholes use the term "extinct:" see the Endangered Species Act where it is formally defined.
"Extinct" does not mean what you think it means.
Those researchers haven’t met Lisa C., 46 of Milford, MA.
There are:
"The agency's decision to declare the eastern cougar extinct does not affect the status of the Florida panther, another endangered wildcat."
Some of them are in Alabama, as well.
That got them the survival of the fittest 2nd place award.
Were you to see such a creature in the wild you might think that it is beautiful & unique, buts that's the second to the last thing that you would have thought in life.
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12,500 years ago humans already knew they didn’t live well with large cats around and had DISPOSED of all the
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WRONG!
There were lions in europe during the time of the greeks and romans...middle east as well.
Those are no joke! :>)
Same here in Michigan. The long dead kitties are being photographed on trail cams up north and there are increasing reports here in the south of the state.
Either Bush or Global Warming at fault. Still doing research to come up with the answer.
We need to place some eastern cougars in Central Park, along with bears and wolves, so libs can experience them in person.
I do feel that way. I don’t want to live in a world devoid of all things beautiful, mysterious and yes, a little dangerous.
I thought I saw a cougar near Baxley, GA several years ago. This was near the Altamaha River.
I had taken a hunter safety instructors course which included a presentation from a wildlife biologist. I talked to him later and he said there were no cougars in Mississippi. He also said they had around 50 alleged sightings every year.
When I phoned the local Georgia wildlife biologist, I told him I knew there were not supposed to be any left in that area and I was sure I was mistaken but I still wanted to report it.
He asked a bunch of questions and after we were through he said he would go out and check the place where I saw it. He said he too doubted it was a cougar but he said it was possible. My description of what it was doing and what it looked like were spot on according to him. He also said the place where I saw it was one of the few areas he could believe one lived if it had moved up from Florida.
My dad swears he’s seen and heard panthers late at night in the hills and hollers of southern West Virginia, back in the 50’s and 60’s. My uncles tell the same stories. There weren’t any deer there then, which the pumas might help explain. But now, there’s deer everywhere on my grandmother’s land. So, I don’t think there are any panthers around any more.
...nice
I guess they haven’t been to New Jersey
I'm with you, I hate the nasty little things.
And the owners don't even have the decency to leave them out at night so the coyotes can eat them.
Funny that they’re doing this just as reports of mountain lions have been popping up more and more in eastern states.
“Mountain lion confirmed in rural Greene County.” (IN)
http://naturalgeographic.net/?p=989
“Mountain Lion Spotted In Kernersville” (NC)
http://www.wxii12.com/video/26069853/detail.html
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The article seems to indicate that they’re western cougars.
No, you’re rude. You can disagree without being a vulgar ass.
That’s just not as fun.
...and 6+ billion strong.
Doubt it. Big cats can't stand the smell of patchouli.
Does this basically say that the only difference between an Eastern Cougar and any other kind of cougar is strictly one of location? What the heck kind of definition of "extinct" does the Fish and Wildlife Service have in their dictionary?
True.
That pic is getting on my nerves.
MEOW! I can haz nutmeg?
Probably whatever gets in the way.
All none of them?
...if God wants there to be terrorists, He’ll make them...
So why do we still see them in Georgia?
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