Oregon banned the hunting of either with dogs or bait, and Cali banned cougar hunting, altogether. Wolves are being reintroduced. Those things, alone, would make your statement true.
We have trail cam pic in Michigan of cougar, the DNR says there is no evidence. Two years in a row black bears have traveled south down the Lake Michigan shoreline, until they had to be tranquelized snd removed. It is only a mattet of time until someone gets hurt.