People have been seeing the occasional mountain lion up here in New England for several years. However, according to Fish and Game that was impossible. Then about 2-3 years ago some hit one with their car in Greenwich, CT(30 outside of NYC). Again, the authorities said it must have been some ones pet that escaped. When they did the autopsy they traced its DNA back to the Black Hills of SD. It had apparently been wondering east for 2 years. They confirmed it with DNA from various scat that had been collect across the Midwest.
I think at about the same time I saw mine, a number of reports were made from the area. Fish and Game insisted it couldn’t be a cougar, and said it was probably a bobcat. Ridiculous (and vaguely insulting), but for some reason they just don’t want to accept that cougars do come east every so often, and there may be active populations.