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Federal researchers declare eastern cougar extinct
Yahoo! News ^ | March 2, 2011 | MICHAEL RUBINKAM

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: easterncougars; extinction
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To: Fido969

They make great bait trolled behind a fast boat
and the rhinestone collars give quite a flash.


141 posted on 03/02/2011 10:01:34 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: EternalVigilance

Yes, I think they look like yearlings, plus the fact that they are running together.


142 posted on 03/02/2011 10:04:05 PM PST by WVNan
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To: americanophile

This will come as a huge surprise the the pair roaming the forests of the southern Albemarle peninsula in eastern North Carolina.


143 posted on 03/02/2011 10:04:35 PM PST by Prospero (non est ad astra mollis e terris via)
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To: Prospero

I think we have pretty well exploded the notion that the big cats do not inhabit the East. They may have wandered here from out West, but they are here.


144 posted on 03/02/2011 10:12:57 PM PST by WVNan
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To: Prospero
Here is the Eastern Cougar. What is different about them from the Western cat?


145 posted on 03/02/2011 10:21:44 PM PST by WVNan
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To: WVNan

Comparing this to the WV cats, I can’t see any difference. They have the same markings on the face, the same extra long tail, smaller head. I’m saying the Eastern Cougar is alive and breeding.


146 posted on 03/02/2011 10:25:49 PM PST by WVNan
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To: WVNan
Here is a Western Cougar. Not any difference I can see.


147 posted on 03/02/2011 10:55:35 PM PST by WVNan
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To: americanophile

I don’t get how you can imply that each person like the picture is worth less just because there are ~800 million of them. That’s just not how I view the world.


148 posted on 03/03/2011 5:56:16 AM PST by Christian Engineer Mass (25ish Cambridge MA grad student. Many younger conservative Christians out there? __ Click my name)
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To: Graybeard58

HA Very good.

John Kerry walks into a bar, and the bartender says “hey John why the long face” ?


149 posted on 03/03/2011 6:19:19 AM PST by Col Frank Slade
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To: Grammy

When we got to western SD in 1979, the only thing seen of cougars was the occasional footprint. Now they are prolific, with a hunting season and a bag limit that has risen steadily as the true numbers become more evident.

After the hunting season three more were killed due to predatory behavior. Killing geese goat and pets.

This topic eases into another being pushed by a senator from SD who as an adult ought to know better but does not, and that is wilderness designation. My forefathers spent untold money and effort ridding the country of wilderness, and just like bad pennies, and early in life mistakes, it and wolfs are coming home to roost.


150 posted on 03/03/2011 7:04:27 AM PST by wita
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To: Christian Engineer Mass

I didn’t. You perhaps wanted me to imply that. I never did.


151 posted on 03/03/2011 8:46:21 AM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives"-Ataturk)
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To: americanophile

OK cool! I misunderstood this post then:

“...and 6+ billion strong.”

I thought the only thing that could mean is that the number reduces the value? If I misunderstood I apologise. What did you mean?

After reading the thread, I am pleased that there is really only a very minor (if any) difference between the eastern and western cats - less than the difference between an Indian and a Pakistani if you ask me! I thought for a moment it was a distinct type of cat.


152 posted on 03/03/2011 8:59:29 AM PST by Christian Engineer Mass (25ish Cambridge MA grad student. Many younger conservative Christians out there? __ Click my name)
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To: Christian Engineer Mass

Your post seemed to imply to me that the two were mutually exclusive; that it was us or them. My point was that we’re doing just fine.


153 posted on 03/03/2011 9:11:05 AM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives"-Ataturk)
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To: americanophile
"mutually exclusive"

No, it's not my point that for us to live they must die, or vice versa. But, I've seen the attitide expressed in post #1 many times before. And in my experience, people that have that kind of reaction do not have the same reaction about people.

"My point was that we’re doing just fine."

Right, yeah. I see this as a "group mentality". "We're doing just fine" implies that because there's Jane and Harry and Joe and Karen and Bob, we don't need Laura or Kathy or John, because there are already plenty of people. I see each person as unique as if they were their own "species".

I think modern liberal society has devalued people to the point where not many people see it like that any more, and that if there's a million people who look like you, then we don't need one more. And to be honest, I think that's no more than a stone's throw from gas chambers.
154 posted on 03/03/2011 9:22:13 AM PST by Christian Engineer Mass (25ish Cambridge MA grad student. Many younger conservative Christians out there? __ Click my name)
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To: Christian Engineer Mass

Well, it is group mentality, because ‘we’ are a species. We’re not big cats. To make any meaningful statements, you necessarily have to generalize...just as you might into other groups such as ‘Christians’ or ‘Engineers,’ or ‘misanthropes.’


155 posted on 03/03/2011 9:28:36 AM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives"-Ataturk)
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To: americanophile

“it is group mentality”

What is a group mentality? Do you mean to say that a group mentality is justified?


156 posted on 03/03/2011 9:44:35 AM PST by Christian Engineer Mass (25ish Cambridge MA grad student. Many younger conservative Christians out there? __ Click my name)
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To: Christian Engineer Mass
"What is a group mentality?"

Referring to humans as "we're."

157 posted on 03/03/2011 9:47:05 AM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives"-Ataturk)
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To: mamelukesabre

Maybe we should feed YOU to the cougars, you dog hater.


158 posted on 03/03/2011 10:18:05 AM PST by Emperor Palpatine (Tosca, mi fai dimenticare Iddio!!!)
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To: Emperor Palpatine

blah blah blah

I own a lab.


159 posted on 03/03/2011 10:56:32 AM PST by mamelukesabre (Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (If you want peace prepare for war))
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